


Seven Days

by MissGryffindor



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Jon and the Starks Are Not Related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-26 00:42:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 70,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13224603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissGryffindor/pseuds/MissGryffindor
Summary: Returning home for her brother's wedding, Sansa Stark tries to push all thoughts of his best friend from her mind.  Thing is, said best friend - Jon Snow - is trying to do the same thing.  Neither can forget the summer they spent together.  In the seven days Sansa is home, can they get their acts together and work through their feelings?





	1. Day One - Sansa

Sansa Stark breathed in the northern air as she walked down the steps of the Vale Airways plane she had taken from Gulltown International to Wolfswood Airport. Northern summers might not be as warm as those further south, but the sun still shone brightly and Sansa pulled her sunglasses down to cover her blue eyes. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Sansa grabbed onto Harry’s hand and smiled widely. She was home.

She led Harry through the terminal building to baggage reclaim. Knowing it would take anything up to half an hour for their suitcases to appear, Sansa excused herself and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She brushed her hair, topped up her lip gloss, and took a deep breath in.

This would be a happy week. She was determined it would be. Her elder brother, Robb, was marrying his long-term girlfriend.

She would be able to see her family – all of them – and they could get to know Harry properly. At no time would she think of how much she wanted to see them more.

And at no time would she think _at all_ of Jon Snow.

As Robb’s childhood best friend and best man, Sansa knew she couldn’t avoid Jon. But she could try and keep him out of her head when he wasn’t there in person.

Sansa let out her deep breath. She washed and dried her hands before re-joining Harry.

Either the staff worked faster than Sansa remembered or they weren’t as busy this time of day, but it took less than five minutes after she had taken her place beside Harry in the queue for their suitcases to appear on the conveyor-belt.

Sansa always tied a blue ribbon to the handle of her black suitcase to make it easier to identify, but Harry had to grab at a few before he could work out which was his.

“Come on”, Sansa smiled. “My mother will be starting to get impatient.”

It hadn’t helped that their flight had been delayed by just under four hours due to staff shortages at Gulltown. Sansa had called her mother as soon as they reached the airport and Catelyn had promised to check the Wolfswood website to track their flight. She had sounded disappointed on the phone, but Sansa knew it was only because her mother was desperate to have her family back under the same roof again.

When they exited baggage reclaim, however, it wasn’t her mother that Sansa came face to face with, but her sister.

“Arya? I thought mum was picking us up?”

“Thank you for coming to meet us, Arya, even though our flight is over three hours late and you wanted to spend your day doing other things. It really is nice to see you. How are you enjoying your summer holidays? How are things with you and Gendry?” her sister responded.

Sansa bit her tongue, and then asked her sister how she was. Arya could still be infuriating at times, but they got on far better now than they had as children.

“I’m good.” Arya gave her a quick hug before turning to nod at Harry.

“Double H. Mum’s sorry she couldn’t come and meet the two of you. She had lunch plans to go over wedding stuff. Dad wasn’t going without her, even with Robb and Jon there to act as a buffer. Gendry and Theon went to the store to pick up food and drink – well, mostly drink, actually – for the barbeque mum’s insisting on for tonight, and Bran is working with Howland Reed for the summer. So it was either me or Rickon.”

“And Rickon is mysteriously vanishing to escape getting roped into helping with wedding stuff”, Sansa deduced. Arya nodded.

“So, in reality, it was either me or a cab. Mum figured you’d prefer me. Come on, I’m in short stay parking and I don’t want to get slapped with a ticket again. Not in mum’s car.”

Sansa smiled reassuringly at Harry and started to follow Arya. Her sister may have short legs, but she was faster than the rest of the family. She took Harry’s hand again and squeezed it. “Alright?”

“Fine”, he replied. “Your sister is a bit weird, though. She isn’t anything like you.”

Sansa laughed. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

Harry had only met Arya once before. She and Gendry had been in Gulltown for a Grafton gig, and Harry’s work commitments had meant a quick lunch had been the extent of their interaction. Sansa worked hard to keep up with her sister, and soon her promise to herself was broken faster than she would’ve hoped.

“So, this lunch”, Sansa began in what she silently prayed was a casual tone. “Surely all the wedding arrangements have been sorted out for months? Robb and Jeyne have been engaged for the best part of two years. What could have been left to the last minute?”

Her brother and Jeyne had wanted to buy a house together before getting married, and doing the construction work required to make the centuries-old place liveable had taken up so much time that their wedding had been delayed more than once.

“Mrs. Westerling wants to confirm everything for this week. Right down to scheduling when we go to the bathroom, I wouldn’t doubt. She says mum hasn’t any experience in planning a wedding. Mrs. Westerling hasn’t either, but it isn’t stopping her and Jeyne is too tired to fight her on it.”

Sansa knew from the last couple of times Jeyne’s parents had visited Wintertown that Arya hated the woman. Thankfully it was Robb, probably the calmest of all of them (save perhaps Bran) that was marrying into the family.

“Oh. Who did she drag into her lunch? Just mum, dad and Robb? We don’t need to be there?”

Arya shook her head. “Thank the old gods, the new and R’hllor for that. No, she and her poor husband are going to be there. Mum and dad. Robb and Jeyne, obviously, and they insisted on Jon and Eleyna. You will, however, have the pleasure of seeing the Westerlings at the barbeque tonight.”

“I’m not sure pleasure is the right word”, Sansa snorted. They reached the car, and Arya opened the boot so they could stow away their suitcases.

Harry immediately sat in the passenger seat, leaving Sansa in the back. She could see him tapping away on his phone, and figured he had decided to amuse himself on the ride over to the house.

It wouldn’t take long, anyway. The Stark family home was less than half an hour away from the airport; something which had come in handy more than once over the years.

“How are our dresses?” Sansa asked.

Jeyne’s sister Eleyna would be maid of honour, but Sansa and Arya had both been asked to be bridesmaids. Sansa had given Jeyne her measurements and been sent a drawing of a dress in return. Nan, the local seamstress, would make any changes necessary to Sansa’s dress over the forthcoming days.

“They aren’t actually that bad”, Arya replied as she exited the airport car park. “Oh, fair warning for tonight. Uncle Edmure is in town and has brought his new girlfriend. They may make an appearance.”

Sansa laughed. Uncle Edmure had a new girlfriend around every four to six months. Arya had long since declared him commitment phobic and their mother despaired of him. “What’s this one like?”

“This one had mum freaking out over the phone. You should’ve heard her. Dad took her wine as soon as she was finished. Not a glass, the half-bottle left over from the night before.”

“That bad?” Sansa winced. She dreaded to think who her uncle’s new girlfriend was, but this woman could hardly be worse than the stripper he’d brought to Robb’s twenty-first.

Arya mimicked their mother’s voice. “What sort of man brings his nephew’s ex-girlfriend as his date? To the wedding of that same nephew?!”

“Uncle Edmure is dating Dacey Mormont? Wow. Either she was after someone who looks a bit like Robb, or she’s become desperate over the years.”

Dacey and Robb had been together for senior year at school, and part of their first year at White Harbour. Then Robb had met Jeyne. Sansa wondered what it must be like to turn up at your ex-boyfriend’s wedding as his uncle’s date? She’d never seen Dacey as that person.

“No. Dacey was cool. I kind of miss her a bit.” Arya and Dacey had been quite alike. So much so that Sansa had been surprised when Robb brought home Jeyne Westerling, who resembled her in personality far more than Arya. “Uncle Edmure is seeing Ros Frey.”

“Ros Frey?” Sansa laughed. “Ros Frey isn’t Robb’s ex-girlfriend. She’s the girl he used to feel up in the back seat of the Riverlands Picture House that summer we spent six weeks with grandfather.”

Her grandfather had suffered a stroke, and the whole family – bar her father, who’d only been able to take a fortnight off work – had spent almost the entire summer at the Tully home, Riverrun, while he recuperated under her mother’s watchful eye. Robb had entertained himself with a holiday romance Sansa knew had ended the day before they left.

“I wouldn’t tell mum that”, Arya replied. “As far as she is concerned, Robb is a perfect little gentleman. Perfect little gentlemen take girls out on dates, and kiss them on the cheek at the end of the night. I don’t think mum ever realized Robb probably never saw Ros as anything more than the girl who let him get to third.”

Sansa spent the remainder of the journey back to the house getting caught up on the wedding arrangements and which family members had already arrived in town, while Harry continued to tap on his phone. She felt a little guilty at Harry being left out, and resolved to make it up to him when they got some time alone together.

And she’d stay by his side at the barbeque. For her sake as much as his.

When Sansa stepped out of her mother’s car and stared up at Winterfell, the name her family had given their house when she was very young, it was with a huge pang of sadness and homesickness and longing all rolled into one.

She’d felt it more and more over the last few months; a pull back to the North. Back to her family. Pushing those feelings aside, Sansa pulled her suitcase into the house.

“Anyone home?” Arya shouted when they walked through the door. There was no response. Arya shrugged and told Sansa they would be staying in her old room. She wandered off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving Sansa and Harry alone.

“We’re on the first floor”, Sansa told him. She led Harry up the stairs to her old bedroom. It was still decorated the duck egg blue she’d chosen the summer she left to study at KLU. Since then, Sansa hadn’t stayed in the room for more than a few weeks at a time.

It was a reminder to her that she had spent too long in King’s Landing and Gulltown. Too long in the south.

Her mother had clearly made the bed up freshly and given the room a good clean.

“It isn’t how I imagined it”, said Harry, as he looked around the bedroom.

This was his first time visiting her family home. They’d been together for nine months now, but Sansa had made the journey to Winterfell alone last Christmas. Harry had felt it was too early in their relationship, and he had standing plans with Aunt Anya at Ironoaks. All the family had met Harry when they’d visited Sansa in Gulltown.

“How did you imagine it?” she asked, intrigued.

Harry put down his bag and hooked his fingers into Sansa’s jeans. “I don’t know. Peach, I guess? Your room in Gulltown is peach.”

“It was like that when Mya and I moved in”, she replied. She ran her fingers through Harry’s hair and settled them on the nape of his neck before pressing her lips to his. Harry instantly tugged at her shirt and made to pull it off.

Sansa broke away from Harry’s lips and raised her arms. Harry threw the shirt on the floor and then went to unclasp her bra. “You have a large family and I want us to have some time together before they offer me coffee and cake, and try to make conversation.”

For all Mya might tell Sansa that men couldn’t multi-task to save their lives, Harry somehow managed to remove all of her clothes and most of his in an instant. Perhaps it was selective.

Sansa pulled Harry down on the bed and found his lips again. She ran her nails up and down his back as he guided his cock into her. He never had really been one for foreplay.

Harry pounded into her while he palmed her breasts and muttered her name. _“Sansa….Sansa……Sansa…”_

A few minutes later, Sansa had cleaned herself up and was looking through her suitcase to find a change of clothes. She grabbed a clean pair of jeans and a white tank top. It may be the North, but it was still mid-summer. There were a pair of white sandals at the bottom of her case and Sansa shoved them on to complete her ensemble.

“We should head downstairs”, she told Harry. “My parents will be home from their lunch soon, and I’ll need to help my mother prepare for tonight. Arya says she’s invited a few dozen people over. That’s a lot of pasta salad and punch to make.”

Harry grinned up at her lazily. “You shouldn’t say _head_ when I’m lying naked in your bed, babe. Come here.”

“I can’t. I’m already changed.” She could hear a car in the driveway. “And someone just got back. Why don’t you have a nap and we’ll see you in a bit. We can do the other thing later.”

Sansa kissed Harry softly and made sure his hold on her wasn’t so secure that she was unable to extricate herself from it. As she bounded down the stairs, Gendry opened the front door and shouted Arya’s name.

“Hey, Sansa. Flight finally made it in?” Gendry asked. He gave her a quick hug. Sansa had always got on well with her sister’s boyfriend.

“It did. How are you?”

“Good, good. I – “

“I’m here. What is it?” Arya interrupted.

“Come and give us a hand bringing in the shopping?” Arya huffed, but made to follow Gendry. Sansa went with them.

“Maybe Harry could come and help”, Arya suggested.

“He’s taking a nap”, said Sansa. “It was – we were at the airport really early, and he’s been busy at work lately. He was at the office until eight most nights last week to get everything in order before he came away.”

Arya shrugged and took two full grocery bags from Gendry. Sansa, meanwhile, found herself pulled into Theon’s arms. “Sansa San! You’ve finally made it here for the madness.”

Sansa laughed. “How are you, Theon?”

“Not bad. Looking forward to the wedding. A lot of single women looking to feel better about themselves by going home with one of the groom’s closest friends!” Sansa shook her head.

Theon, Robb’s college roommate at White Harbour, had always been incorrigible. She picked up a box filled with alcoholic spirits and made her way back into the house.

It took a couple of trips, but between the four of them they managed to get everything into the kitchen. Sansa took one look at the amount of alcohol they’d purchased and wondered if that had been at her mother’s request or Theon’s supposedly helpful input.

There were enough bottles of wine, prosecco and beer to sink a small ship. And that’s before Sansa even got a look at the hard liquor. They must have spent a small fortune at the store.

“How much of this was actually on mum’s list?” she asked Gendry wryly. He went a little red.

“She said to get whatever we thought would be needed drinks wise”, he admitted. “But all the food she wanted is here. I’m not sure how many people Catelyn plans on feeding.”

“A lot”, Arya put in. “She invited enough people to make sure she wouldn’t have to spend much time with the Westerlings. Well, Mrs. Westerling, really. Jeyne’s dad isn’t so bad. Her brothers are passable. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Eleyna. If one of them takes after Mrs. W., it’s her.”

Sansa started sorting the shopping out and putting it away in the appropriate cupboards and the fridge. It would take most of the afternoon to do the food preparation, even with the bulk of the food being cooked on the barbeque.

“The meat’s defrosting in the pantry”, Arya told her. Her sister was sitting on top of the counter eating a strawberry pop-tart, her elbow perched on Gendry’s shoulder.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier – Aunt Lysa and Uncle Jon are arriving tomorrow. Robin’s coming with them. There isn’t any room here, thankfully, so they’re staying at the same hotel as Uncle Edmure and Ros Frey.”

“Urgh”, muttered Theon. “Your cousin is beyond strange. He’s a year older than Rickon and he still needs his mother to read him bedtime stories and organize his bath time. It is……not normal.”

“Aunt Lysa’s protective”, Sansa shrugged. She had always figured it was something to do with the countless miscarriages and still-births her aunt had suffered before and after Robin’s birth. Sansa wouldn’t wish her aunt’s experience on anyone.

The shopping stowed away, Sansa decided to get started on the pasta salad. She’d helped her mother with barbeques and parties time and time again in the past, and knew how Catelyn Stark liked things to be done. She diced the peppers as small as she could while the pasta simmered in the pan, and added some frozen peas.

Gendry had thankfully purchased enough mayo for her to make it to her mother’s taste. Her philosophy on mayo was that no amount of it was too much.

Sansa had the pasta salad covered and in the fridge by the time her parents arrived back from their lunch.

“Sansa!” her mother exclaimed as she came over to greet her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come and meet you. Sybell was insistent that we go over the arrangements for the week, and it would have been unfair to your father to abandon him.”

“Its fine”, Sansa assured her mother as she hugged her tightly. She breathed in the familiar scent of her mother’s perfume and felt again that she had finally come home. Sansa had always been close to her mother, and missed her terribly at times.

Thank the Seven for video calls.

“Dad.” Sansa felt her father’s arms envelop her, and a sense of safety and security washed over her. “How was lunch?”

“Over and done with, mercifully”, said her mother. “I need to get a move on with the arrangements for tonight. Did Arya tell you?”

“She did. The pasta salad is already done and chilling in the fridge. I was just about to start on the salad bowls”, Sansa replied.

“You look well.” Her mother scrutinized her. “Possibly in need of some spoiling, but that never seemed to do you much harm. We’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Sansa forced back the tears she could feel rising. It wouldn’t do them any good to have her get overly emotional. Her parents had enough to worry about over the coming week without adding Sansa’s homesickness to the list.

She realized her boyfriend had still to come downstairs. “I’ll just let Harry know you’re back. He went for a quick nap when we got in.”

A few hours, and several bowls of both salad and punch later, Sansa quickly dried herself off after a shower and pulled on the lemon sundress she’d brought with her. It was one of her favourites and was just right for tonight. She put her white sandals back on and hoped that they wouldn’t get dirty.

The grime of air travel removed, and her make-up freshly reapplied, she wandered downstairs while Harry jumped in the en-suite himself. He’d tried to convince her that a joint shower was in order but Sansa had reminded him of her mother’s desperate need for help and support.

She’d kissed him softly and whispered that they’d finally have some time together when everyone had gone home.

When she spotted the pile of meat her father meant to barbeque, Sansa wondered if they’d slaughtered half a farmyard for the night’s festivities.

Her mother had invited a number of family friends, as well as the wedding party. While there wouldn’t be the dozens upon dozens of Arya’s exaggeration, the Stark garden would still be full to bursting.

Sansa grabbed the film-covered bowls of salad and rice and began to set them out on the tables Arya and Gendry had set up outside.

Rickon had reappeared from wherever he had spent the day (probably the arcade or a friend’s house, Sansa mused) and been set to organizing the music. Sansa could hear the dulcet tones of Beth Cassel, lead singer of the _Direwolves_ , blaring out from Rickon’s sound system.

The _Direwolves_ were Robb, Arya and Rickon’s favourite band, and Beth Cassel’s father had worked for her own for years.

“Sansy star!” Sansa turned round to find herself lifted in the air by her elder brother, while his future wife rolled her eyes and chuckled. “You’re here! You need to come home more often. We missed your baking. And you! We missed you too.”

“I missed you”, Sansa admitted. She gave Jeyne a quick hug and complimented her dress. It was blue with large white seashells on it, and reminded Sansa of days by the sea. She pushed the image of a day out at the Stony Shore from her mind and focused on the two people in front of her.

“I need a drink”, Robb announced. “Alcohol is the only way we’re going to get through this week. We should just have eloped. I hear Moat Cailin is a lovely spot for a wedding.”

“Mum would never have forgiven you”, Sansa pointed out. The three of them walked back into the house, and Sansa pulled beers from the fridge for Robb and Jeyne before pouring herself a glass of white wine.

“I don’t think mine would have been overly pleased with us either”, Jeyne admitted.

“But the next few days may have me wondering if that isn’t a trade-off I should have made. We’ve got quite a number of things planned before Saturday, bridesmaid! There’s your final fitting tomorrow, plus a trip to the spa and a hair test on Thursday. Osha needs a practice run on whatever fancy braid it is she intends you to have on Saturday.”

“Wow. Sounds like a busy time.” Busy was good. Busy would save her from thinking too much.

“Good, you’re here.” Sansa looked up to see her mother join them. She was fixing her earrings and looked less harassed than she had been an hour ago.

“The guests will be arriving soon. Sansa, sweetie, I want you to relax this evening. You did so much this afternoon and I hate to think how early you had to be at the airport.”

“Thanks”, Sansa smiled softly. It would be helpful, given Harry didn’t really know anyone. He didn’t even know her family properly and she doubted Rickon would be willing to entertain his sister’s boyfriend. Well, unless said boyfriend was willing to illicitly keep him in alcohol for the evening. But Sansa suspected Rickon had probably already roped Theon into doing that.

Sansa took her glass of wine outside and sat on the stairs down from the patio to the garden. Robb went over to greet their father, and Sansa seized the opportunity to speak to Jeyne about things Robb shouldn’t hear.

“How’s your dress coming along?”

“Oh, Sansa it is just beautiful. It belonged to my grandmother – did I tell you that?” Sansa shook her head. “Well, anyway, Nan’s done a few things to it and modernized it a bit. But the core of the dress is still there. It’ll look lovely when I wear it on Saturday. Eleyna is a bit jealous. She wanted the dress.”

“Surely she could wear it herself? You’re both around the same size, aren’t you?”

“I guess”, Jeyne shrugged. “But then mother did suggest Eleyna have _her_ dress, so who knows? Eleyna isn’t even seeing anyone so it’s all moot at this point. Oh, I wanted to speak to you about the dances.”

“The dances? At the reception?” Sansa bit her lip nervously. One of the reasons she’d been relieved that Robb had asked Jon to be his best man was that she knew it would mean Eleyna would be the one to dance with him.

“Yeah. Obviously Eleyna and Jon will dance together. I thought I’d pair you with Raynald and Arya with Theon? It works out better that way height-wise. And then for the second round if you could dance with Rickon and Arya with Rollam?” Jeyne suggested. Sansa smiled.

“That sounds great. Besides, Theon won’t try anything with Arya.”

“Because Gendry will give him what for if he does?”

“No, because Arya will make it difficult for Theon to conceive children in the near future if he does.” Arya had never needed protecting from anyone. She had a black belt in karate, and while Sansa had taken yoga classes after school, Arya had gone for mixed martial arts.

Robb returned, and Harry appeared soon after with a beer in hand. “You remember Harry, don’t you?”

“Sure”, grinned Robb. Sansa noted how tightly her brother grasped Harry’s hand and rolled her eyes. Robb could be such a caveman when he wanted to be. “You been back to see the Falcons since?”

Robb had been to Gulltown for a football match – Northern Wolves v Gulltown Falcons. Robb’s team had soundly beaten Harry’s, and Robb had crowed about it for the remainder of the weekend.

“Not recently”, Harry admitted. “Been busy with work. Finance is a difficult business. Mergers and brokers and so on. It takes up a lot of my time. But that is what’s needed in my line of business. A lot more complex than pushing paper at your father’s firm.”

“Of course.” Robb flashed him with what Sansa knew to be a fake smile. “I’m going to head back in to grab another beer. Jeyne, Sansa, you want anything?”

“I’ll have another glass of wine”, said Sansa. Jeyne asked for a beer.

“So, what do you think of the North, Harry?” Jeyne asked. “You haven’t been up here before, have you?”

“I haven’t”, Harry agreed. “A bit cooler than I’m used to. Warm enough, though. And the North has Sansa in it. For now, at least.”

Sansa smiled up at Harry and took his hand in hers. She was rubbing circles into his palm soothingly when Robb returned. He handed Sansa her glass of wine and then turned to Jeyne. “Mum wants us to come greet some of the guests. See you in a bit, Sans.”

“Sure”, she smiled. She turned to Harry. “Come on, I’ll show you round the garden.”

“That a euphemism for something I’m going to like?” Harry grinned wickedly.

Sansa blushed. There was no way in all seven hells she and Harry were going to do anything beyond kissing in her parents’ garden while it was filling up with their friends and family.

“I meant we could go for a wander and look at the flowers. There isn’t anywhere to hide in this garden, except the summer house. And mum locked that up to make sure nobody snuck in.” She’d been worried about the teenagers, but Sansa knew either Robb or Arya were the most likely to misbehave there.

She took Harry over to the apple tree Robb and Arya had always liked to climb as children, and told him about the time eight-year-old Arya had refused to get down.

“She came down eventually, but she spent the next weekend grounded. I can’t even remember why she was up there in the first place”, Sansa chuckled. She had a lot of good memories from this garden.

Sansa was just about to show Harry the rose bush she’d planted with her mother not long before she left to go south to King’s Landing when she heard his voice.

“What? I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?” Sansa turned round to see him coming down the garden with Robb and Jeyne. Sansa felt her heart constrict her chest and admonished herself for letting him get to her like this. She should be friendly but indifferent with him.

She should be, but she never quite managed to achieve indifference.

When she closed her eyes, she could still feel him bump into her outside the drugstore.

_Wandering through Wintertown Mall, Sansa tried to decide whether or not to ask her father to increase her hours. He’d arranged for her to answer phones each morning over her summer break from King’s Landing University, but Sansa was having difficulty filling her afternoons._

_Robb was in Lannisport, interning at Clegane’s, because he wanted to spend the summer with his girlfriend; her new friend Margaery was on a summer tour of Essos with her family; her old Wintertown friends were either working full-time or out of town._

_Even Arya was busy. She had decided to volunteer at a daily soccer camp nearby, leaving the house before nine and returning just before the evening meal. And Bran and Rickon were both of an age where it was embarrassing to be seen going everywhere with an elder sister._

_Sansa was alone._

_She thought vaguely about going to check the cinema listings – the duplex always showed old classics in the afternoons – but Sansa’s internal musings were interrupted when someone quite literally bumped into her._

_“I’m so, so sorry”, the man began. It took Sansa a second to realize it was Jon Snow, her brother’s best friend since their first day at school. “Sansa!”_

_Jon smiled at her warmly. “Sorry – I wasn’t looking where I was going. How are you? I haven’t seen you since Easter.”_

_“I’m good. Working at the firm in the mornings, and…..well, that’s pretty much it, to be honest. And you?”_

_“My mum got me a summer job working security at the hospital.” Lyanna Snow was an ER nurse. Sansa had encountered her several times in a professional capacity when one sibling or another had needed medical treatment._

_“I work the night shift, but it isn’t too bad. 10PM until 6AM four nights on and four off. Mostly I take care of drunk people and make sure flight-risk patients don’t escape.”_

_“You weren’t interested in joining Robb in Lannisport?”_

_“I play third wheel often enough during term-time”, Jon chuckled softly. “And while four instead of five isn’t a massive difference, my mum only has me.”_

_Sansa felt a jolt in her belly at the sound of Jon’s chuckle. She’d never really listened to it before. It reminded her of chocolate but she couldn’t work out why. It was smooth and soothing and soft._

_“You doing some shopping?” Sansa asked, indicating the bag Jon had with him._

_“I finished the last of the shampoo this morning; figured I should get some more. You?”_

_Sansa shook her head. “Kind of wandering aimlessly more than anything else. Everyone seems to be busy this summer. Except me. I was even thinking of asking dad to give me more hours at the firm. If they need anyone.”_

_She felt a little embarrassed admitting that to Jon, but he only nodded in sympathy._

_“I was going to grab a burger on my way home? Do you want to – “_

_“Yes”, Sansa found herself saying. If she was honest, she was glad of the company. “That’d be great.”_

_He took her to a local, family-owned place and ordered cheeseburgers for both of them, plus a side of fries to share. “And you? You didn’t want to stay in King’s Landing for the summer? Maybe intern at one of the firms there?”_

_“Nope. I spent most of spring break at Marge’s, so I hadn’t been home for more than a long weekend since Christmas. Can you imagine what mum would’ve said if I hadn’t come home? It’s different with Robb. He’s only in White Harbour. And he’s a guy”, Sansa sighed._

_“That shouldn’t make a difference”, Jon told her as she took a sip of the wine he’d ordered for them both._

_“But it does.”_

_“So, how was your first year at KLU? You decide yet what you want to focus on?”_

_“Maybe”, Sansa winced. She was jumping between Westerosi Lit and Psychology, with no real idea what she would do when she finished her course, and said as much to Jon._

_“I know what you mean. Robb’s lucky in a way, knowing he’ll go and work for your dad. Even if it doesn’t turn out being what he wants long-term it means he still has something to fall back on. He has a plan he can follow. I have no earthly clue what I want to do after graduation. I thought about the legal profession for a while, but it would mean another three years of study.”_

_“What are you studying now?”_

_Jon had been around her house for so long that Sansa found it mildly embarrassing she had no earthly clue what course he’d applied to do at White Harbour. She’d simply assumed he was studying Business Administration, the same as Robb._

_“Business Admin.” Her suspicions were confirmed._

_“A nice catch-all. Not sure what it’ll get me, but it’s interesting enough to keep me there. I’m halfway done now, so I guess I better start trying to figure out what I want to do. So, what do you like about Psychology? Do you spend days sitting outside in the quad trying to figure out what everyone’s thinking?”_

_Sansa laughed. “No. Mostly I like studying motivation, if I’m expressing myself well? Why we do the things we do. Is there true benevolence in us, or are we simply driven by greed and desire? Maybe more of a philosophical question, I guess, but that’s what I’m interested in. I have thought vaguely about focusing on Psychology and then getting a qualification in counselling, but I don’t know if I would be any good at it.”_

_“I think you would be”, Jon told her. Sansa furrowed her eyebrows. She and Jon barely talked; they were currently setting a spectacular new record in how long they could hold a conversation for._

_“Just – I know you argue with Arya, but she really has to push your buttons to get you to retaliate. And you’re so patient with Bran, Rickon, and pretty much everyone. You listen a lot. I think you’d be good at it.”_

_Their food arrived, and interrupted their conversation, but Sansa could feel the start of something build in her as she contemplated what Jon had said. Part of her couldn’t believe she’d even mentioned it to him. Maybe Jon was the sort of person who naturally invited confidences._

_Sansa tucked into her cheeseburger and tried to set thoughts of the future aside._

_Once they had finished eating, Jon asked her what she had planned for the rest of the afternoon. Sansa admitted she’d been considering going to see what old films were on at the duplex._

_“Fancy some company?” Jon asked. Sansa smiled at him, and nodded._

_They had spent the rest of the afternoon together, and when Jon dropped her off at her car he asked Sansa what she was doing the following afternoon. Perhaps he was finding the summer a lonely place too._

_“Nothing. I was – I thought maybe I could go for a run somewhere.”_

_“Ghost and I were going to head to the park, if you wanted to join us”, Jon suggested. “I know I’m not the most interesting company in the world but Ghost is pretty cool.”_

_“You’re not that bad”, Sansa laughed._

_They arranged to meet at the entrance to Wolfswood Country Park around two, and Sansa returned home feeling more content than she had for a while. She supposed she must be desperate for reasonable company, and wondered why she had never considered Jon to be that before._

Sansa opened her eyes and tried to push the memory to the back of her mind. That had been the start of it, that day at Wintertown Mall. For years, Sansa had always considered it their first date.

Lunch had snowballed into a movie into arranging a walk in the park the next day with Ghost, and then on to spending their afternoons together almost every weekday.

Before Sansa realized what was happening, Jon Snow had become a close friend and the person she spent her evenings sending silly text messages to.

She took a deep breath in and braced herself as Robb, Jeyne and Jon headed in her direction. Sansa could see Jon was nervous about something. Did he really think she would spill the beans about that summer after all this time? That she would ruin his friendship with Robb for no reason at all but to be rid of him?

“Hey, Sansa”, Jon greeted her. She nodded.

“It’s good to see you. Been a long time.”

Jon had taken his mother north to spend last Christmas with his now ex-girlfriend Val and her family, so Sansa had only seen him for the party her parents threw at New Year and the house had been so busy they’d barely spoken that night.

“It has”, Jon agreed.

Sansa found it hard to tear her eyes away from him. Fate had cruelly made Jon more attractive with age, and Sansa had to force herself not to reach out and tuck a stray curl behind his ear. His hair was even more unruly – and therefore even sexier – than Sansa recalled.

Sansa wanted to reach out and run her fingers through it as she had done so often in his car, and in his bed.

She remembered Harry, and squeezed her boyfriend’s hand. “This is Jon. He’s Robb’s best friend. He’ll be best man at the wedding.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you”. Harry was all politeness and shook Jon’s hand, but Sansa could see that neither of them appeared overly impressed with the other. Jon’s soft smile didn’t reach his eyes when they were focused on Harry, and Harry used the tone of voice he normally reserved for those he didn’t want to waste time on.

“How’s your mother?” Sansa asked. She knew Lyanna Snow was in remission from breast cancer.

“Better than she was, thanks. She’s back at work full-time now, bossing everyone around like a good ER Nurse Manager. Having Ghost around really helped. She’s stolen him from me.” Sansa laughed in spite of herself.

“I’m sure Ghost knows she needed him. Tell her I was asking after her. She was always good to me whenever I had to take Arya or one of the boys to the ER.”

She remembered the day Arya had broken her arm falling from a tree. Lyanna Snow had taken one look at them – Sansa was frazzled, Arya’s arm was in a makeshift sling, and Bran and Rickon were clearly bored – and bumped them up the triage queue. She’d even snuck the boys some jell-o.

Jon nodded. “I will. But you’ll see her yourself on Saturday.”

“Good.” Sansa felt the pressure of this stilted conversation and turned to Harry. She hoped he couldn’t sense the tension in the air between her and Jon. She hoped Robb and Jeyne couldn’t either.

“I need another glass of wine. Are you close to done with that beer?”

“I can be.” Harry downed the last of his drink.

“We’ll see you in a bit”, said Sansa. She walked back in the direction of the house, leaving Jon with Robb and Jeyne.

Each time she came home it was always the first meeting that was the hardest – mostly because her memories of Jon never quite seemed to do him justice. Sansa wondered if he still lifted weights and ran. She wondered when his eyes had started to get that cute little crinkle around them when he smiled.

She shook herself. Jon wasn’t hers. He hadn’t been hers for four damn years, and he wouldn’t ever be again. That much had been made clear to Sansa Stark. But it didn’t stop her from wanting him.

It didn’t stop her from wondering _what if_.

And it didn’t stop the traitorous thought that she hadn’t been as happy before or after Jon as she had been while they’d been together.

Sansa guided Harry into the kitchen and took another beer from the fridge for him. She poured herself another glass of wine and suggested they find out when the food was ready. Her father was in charge of cooking as always, and his methodical manner meant the process of eating was usually spread out.

Thankfully almost all of the guests had been to Winterfell before and knew how Ned worked.

“Much longer, dad?” Sansa asked when she approached her father. Other than some of the salad things she’d pinched when she was helping her mother prepare the food, Sansa hadn’t eaten since the chicken wrap she’d had on the plane.

“Grab a bun each and I can sneak you a burger before the hoards descend”, he told her in a quiet voice.

“You’re the best!” Sansa squealed. She did as he asked, and found herself with two burgers.

Sansa dragged Harry over to one of the tables so they could sit down with their food.

“Wow, is this cooked?” Harry asked. Sansa nodded.

“We’re Northerners – we take our meat rare and our mead strong”, she laughed. “At least, that’s what dad always says. Do you want me to ask if he could cook it a bit more?”

“Would you? That’d be fantastic, Sans. You’re the best!” Sansa put her burger down and took Harry’s back over to her father.

Although she’d offered, it _had_ been out of politeness and in the hope that if he did want it more thoroughly cooked, he would go and ask her father himself.

“Dad? Is there – Harry likes his meat quite well done. Is there any way you could….” Sansa felt mortified but before she could finish her request, her father had removed the burger from the bun and placed it back on the barbeque. He moved it to the centre, where most of the heat was.

“Sorry.”

“Isn’t your fault, sweetheart. We all have different tastes. It’s what makes the world an interesting place to live. I have tofu burgers in the oven because Howland’s kids don’t eat meat. You don’t see me barring them from the house.” Sansa relaxed a little. Her father had a point.

“I know, but – you like Harry, don’t you?” Sansa bit her lip. She was in her mid-twenties now, but the approval of her parents still meant a lot to Sansa. Their judgement had always been so much better than her own.

“As long as he makes you happy and treats you right, your mother and I will like Harry”, her father assured her. “You’re old enough to make your own choices. And to make your own mistakes.”

“Thanks”, Sansa smiled. She sipped on her wine and hid the growl in her stomach. “How’s mum managing tonight?”

“She’s spent most of it with Donella Hornwood and Jonelle Cerwyn, hoping to avoid your uncle and his mid-life crisis should they appear.”

Sansa snorted at her father’s assessment of Ros Frey. She had yet to encounter her uncle and couldn’t speak for herself. But her father did have a point – at least in theory – given that Ros had to be a good fifteen or sixteen years younger than Edmure.

“I was pleased to see you talking to Jon.”

“Oh?” Sansa felt a moment of panic. She had always been sure that none of the family had any idea about that summer they’d spent together.

“Robb says he’s been spending too much time working lately, and trying to take care of his mother. No doubt that’s why he and Val split up. I know Robb’s been a bit worried about him. Hopefully the wedding will take his mind off things.”

“Robb said Lyanna was coming to the ceremony.” Her father nodded.

“One well-done burger.” Sansa held out the plate with Harry’s bun on it, and her father placed the burger on top.

“Thanks again, dad.” She left her father and returned to Harry. He had been joined by a dark-haired girl Sansa soon recognized as Eleyna Westerling, Jeyne’s younger sister.

“I have your burger”, said Sansa as she sat down. She turned to look at Eleyna. “Enjoying the party?”

Eleyna had a broad grin on her face. “I am. I can’t wait for the main party on Saturday. As Harry was just reminding me, the maid of honour rarely leaves a wedding alone.”

Sansa grimaced. She knew Harry was a flirt – it was, after all, how they had met – but she hated being reminded of it by other women. And Eleyna seemed to take what he said to mean something, if the heart eyes she was sending Harry’s way were anything to go by.

Sansa forced a smile. “I’m sure there will be lots of single men there for you to meet. Worst case scenario, there’s always Theon.”

“Been there, done that”, Eleyna sighed. “Anyway, I should go and find my mother. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other over the next few days. It was nice to meet you, Harry. Bye.”

“Bye. Nice girl. She was the only one who bothered to stop and speak to me when I was abandoned.” Harry looked at her and tried to fake a tragic look. Sansa could only laugh at him, before tucking into her now much cooler burger.

When all the guests had left and the remnants of the barbeque cleaned up, the family decamped to the sitting room with the alcohol that Gendry and Arya had kept aside. They had managed to secure several bottles of prosecco and wine, and a case of beer.

Sansa helped herself to some prosecco, and curled up next to Harry on the sofa.

Her mother sat in a chair opposite and kicked off her heels. “Such a long day. And we’re only at Monday.” She rubbed her feet and took large sips of a glass of red wine.

“We could have eloped and saved you all the trouble, but then you would have complained even more”, Robb pointed out to her.

“None of you are ever eloping”, Catelyn Stark told her children sternly. “None of you! Understand?”

Sansa felt her eyes start to droop a little, but forced them open. It was well after ten, and her alarm had gone off sometime around six. Even after hitting the snooze button a couple of times, she still found herself tired.

Thankfully she could have a lie-in in the morning, as her dress fitting wasn’t until the afternoon.

“What’s on the schedule for tomorrow?” Bran asked. “There isn’t anything I need to do after work? It’s my last day there before the wedding.”

Bran had a summer internship at Howland Reed’s firm. Sansa wasn’t quite sure what they did, only that it was something to do with renewable energy technology. Howland and his children were all avid environmentalists, and regularly attended climate change demonstrations throughout Westeros.

When her parents had gone away for their twentieth wedding anniversary, Robb had bailed Bran out of jail when he, Meera and Jojen were arrested at a demonstration in Torrhen’s Square.

“Yeah, what torture do you have lined up for me tomorrow?” Arya added. She was sat on the floor with her feet up on Gendry’s legs.

“Torture, really? Today wasn’t that bad, was it?” her mother sighed. “You and Sansa have final fittings with Nan tomorrow afternoon, as do Jeyne and Eleyna. Robb, you and Jon are picking up the rings in the morning, is that right?”

“It is. Mikken said he’d have them ready for us. Jon has to swing by the office first thing for some charity committee meeting he can’t get out of, and then we’ll head over.”

Sansa tuned out for a moment at the mention of Jon going to work. She remembered what her father had said about the long hours he spent there. Jon had picked up a job at Wintertown General not long after graduation, around the time his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sansa was still seeing Joffrey at the time. He and Jon didn’t get along, which helped Sansa avoid Jon as much as she liked.

She tried to recall what Robb had said at the time. In any case, she knew now that Jon worked in administration at the hospital. This meeting he couldn’t miss – for the charity committee – must be something to do with funding, she supposed. She wondered if he’d fallen into the job by accident, as she had done.

Sansa had never intended to become a PA but the career aptitude test she took marked it out as an option. And although she wanted out of King’s Landing and away from places which reminded her of Joffrey, Sansa also hesitated at the thought of returning to Wintertown, where Jon was all loved-up with his new girlfriend Val.

She’d seen the job advertised in Gulltown and figured at worst Aunt Lysa and Uncle Jon weren’t that far away. Besides, her father knew Mr. Royce well.

They’d never spoken about it, her and Jon. They hadn’t spoken about much of anything really. Not since that summer when it seemed like they spoke of everything.

Everything but their feelings. Sansa couldn’t get mad at Jon for that, though. She hadn’t been honest with him either.

Sansa regrouped and focused her attention back on the conversation. She snuggled in closer to Harry, and took a large sip from her glass before resting her head on his shoulder.

“We should do lunch on Wednesday”, Jeyne suggested. “Bran will be finished at work. We don’t have much of anything scheduled and it will be a good chance to relax. We won’t be getting much of that done over the next week.”

“How about going to Hobb’s?” Sansa suggested. “They make the most amazing cheeseburgers.”

Sansa bit her lip at the realization of what she’d said and wished she could take it back. She and Jon had always had cheeseburgers at Hobb’s. “They have other dishes too. In fact, I think I’ll have something else for a change.”

 _For a change._ As if she’d been back to Hobb’s since that summer. She probably wouldn’t have taken Harry there on her own, if she was honest with herself.

“Hobb’s sounds good”, Robb agreed. “Jon used to go there all the time. I’ll call in the morning and book a table for – what are we, twelve?”

Sansa counted it out mentally. Five Starks, four Westerlings, Harry, Gendry and Jon. “Yeah, a round dozen. Unless you’re inviting Theon, in which case it’ll be thirteen.”

“He is part of the wedding party”, Jeyne shrugged. “Thirteen it is, and may it be unlucky for others and not us!”

“Book it for one-thirty”, Arya requested. “My hangover should be cured by then.”

“Hangover?” her mother asked.

“Yeah. Gendry and I are going out for drinks with Hot Pie tomorrow night. That’s why I needed to know what torture you had me signed up for. If it’s all during the day, then we don’t need to cancel on him”, said Arya.

She downed the remainder of her beer and went to get another. “Anyone else need a refill?”

“I’ll take another beer while you’re up”, Harry called after her. He smiled at Sansa. “Waste not, want not.”

“I’m not sure I could drink much more. I’m too tired”, Sansa admitted.

“Oh, I think I’ve got a second wind”, Harry grinned.

Sansa glared at Rickon, who started giggling loudly at Harry’s turn of phrase (she suspected Theon had been slipping him beers on the sly – or, perhaps, Arya) and thought huffily that unlike her, Harry had been able to have a nap after they reached Winterfell. When she had gone upstairs to let him know her parents had returned, he was fast asleep.

Sansa wasn’t the only one to notice Rickon’s giggling, and he was soon being questioned about his drinking habits. Her mother didn’t exactly send him to bed but it was strongly suggested that he head up there.

“I won’t be too far behind you”, Sansa told him sympathetically.

For all he’d laughed at Harry, Sansa figured it must be hard for Rickon to be the only one of them who could legitimately be sent to bed early. Rickon threw her a smile for her trouble, and Sansa wrapped an arm around Harry’s middle.

The wine was starting to go to her head and she had always been a cuddly and affectionate drunk. Marge had usually laughed at her for it when they went out clubbing in King’s Landing or down at Highgarden.

Arya often tended to do the same. At least until Sansa reached the stage of drunkenness that advised her hugging Arya until she squeezed her was a good idea.

At that point, Arya pushed her away and cut her off from the drinks making their way to the table.

“We should get going.”

Robb stood up and helped Jeyne to her feet. The Westerlings had gone back to Robb and Jeyne’s not long before the last of the guests had disappeared. Arya had grumbled and said they probably wanted to get out of helping with the clean-up.

“Thanks for tonight, Catelyn”, Jeyne said gratefully. She passed her chair and patted her on the shoulder.

“No problem, dear. Do you want to come over tomorrow before we go to Nan’s, or do you want to meet us there?”

“We’re going to have to take two cars, so we might as well just meet there”, said Jeyne. “Jon’s picking Robb up, so I’ll have our car.”

Sansa used Robb and Jeyne’s departure to make her own excuses. “I’m really tired. I think I’ll head upstairs. Night all.”

Harry looked longingly at his bottle of beer and seemed to decide in the end to bring it with him. By the time Sansa had hugged her parents and moved reached the doorway, Harry was standing there bottle in hand. She followed him upstairs to her bedroom, where she really regretted not having unpacked properly. That would need to wait until the morning.

Sansa gathered up her wash bag, sleep shorts and a fresh tank top and headed in the direction of the en-suite. She removed her make-up methodically and placed the dirty wipes in the wastebasket. As she brushed her teeth, it felt strange to be in Winterfell after waking up in Gulltown.

Although Robb and Jeyne had been engaged for two years and together for the best part of five, it had taken until now for it to really hit Sansa that her big brother was getting married.

She tried not to think about the way Robb looked at Jeyne. It was the way her father looked at her mother. She tried not to think about the fact that Harry didn’t look at her that way.

They had only been together for nine months. Harry didn’t see them as overly serious yet. He had been hesitant about coming on this trip with her, but Sansa had pushed for it.

Was she happy? That wasn’t a question Sansa wanted to seriously address. Especially not late at night, when she was tired, a little tipsy and trying to push Jon Snow from her mind.

She wondered what it would be like if she and Jon were together. If he were her date to Robb and Jeyne’s wedding.

No. This was exactly what she was trying to avoid and exactly what she had promised to herself she would not do on this trip. It was about Robb and Jeyne, and about Harry getting to know her family a little better. It was not about Sansa and Jon Snow. It could never be about that.

Sansa turned out the light.

When Sansa went back through to her bedroom, she saw that Harry was already underneath the covers and was waiting for her expectantly. The beer bottle – now seemingly empty – was on the desk school-age Sansa had always used for studying.

“Finally”, Harry murmured as she slipped into bed beside him. He kissed the side of her head and shoved his hand down her tank top.

“I’ve been waiting for this all evening. You looked so fuckable in that yellow dress of yours. It’s a shame there wasn’t anywhere in the garden to have some time alone together.”

 _Lemon_ , Sansa thought silently. The dress is _lemon_.

She could feel Harry shift around next to her, moving his boxers down until they pooled around his ankles. His breath was in her ear, and Sansa felt guilty that the only thing she wanted to do was turn over and fall into an instant and deep sleep.

It had been such a long day.

“You did promise”, Harry wheedled.

Sansa forced a quick chuckle. Of course she had. She always did.

Remembering their conversation from earlier, Sansa removed Harry’s cold hands from her tank top and moved to straddle him. She shifted herself down his front until her face was level with his hard cock. Sansa took his length in her mouth and began to lick teasingly.

“Fuck, baby, that’s good”, she heard him moan. Sansa picked up the speed, and started to massage his balls. Harry liked that, and Sansa had long since realized it helped finish him off quicker. She sucked harder on his cock, before running her tongue up and down his length while he moaned her name.

“Please be quieter”, Sansa hissed after one particularly indecent moan. “My parents sleep down the hallway!”

Sansa had never been caught out and she didn’t intend to start now. She figured her parents were well aware of what went on between her and Harry – they had, after all, given them a shared bedroom – but they’d always operated on a _no questions asked_ basis.

And Sansa hoped to avoid awkward looks across the breakfast table.

Harry simply laughed, and promised to try and keep the noise down.

Sansa moved her mouth back to his cock and her fingers back to his balls, concentrating tightly. It only took a few minutes more before Harry was pounding into her to finish himself off. Sated, Harry lay back down and grabbed some tissues from the night stand.

“That was good. I was waiting all night for that. You’re amazing, babe”, Harry told her.

He put the tissues back where he’d got them, but Sansa took them and the ones she’d used on herself and disposed of them in the bathroom, flushing them down the toilet. Her mother really didn’t need to find tissues with Harry’s spunk on them when she emptied the wastepaper basket.

Back in bed, Sansa kissed Harry goodnight.

She allowed him to move around for a few moments before placing her head atop a pillow and finally settling in to what she hoped was a very long and blissful sleep. _At last._


	2. Day Two - Jon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely response to the opening chapter! Here we delve into Jon's POV.........

Jon groaned when the buzz of his alarm clock rang loudly through his bedroom.  He wanted nothing more than to turn over and go back to sleep.  Preferably for a good three or four hours.  But he had a full day scheduled and couldn’t cancel on any of it.  Not the charity meeting nor the commitments he had relating to his best man duties. 

Besides, if he got out of bed and did everything he had planned, there was a chance Jon might get to see _her_ again today. 

Ghost barked, and Jon pushed the covers off his bed.  The Labrador was getting old, but he still liked Jon to feed and walk him each morning as he always had. 

Jon opened the bedroom door and Ghost bounded in, looking up at him expectantly. 

“Yeah, yeah”, Jon muttered.  “Give me five minutes to get dressed and then we’ll go for a walk.”

Jon quickly took off the old White Harbour University t-shirt and boxers he’d slept in and put on a pair of sweatpants and plain black top.  He would have a shower after they got back, while Ghost munched away on breakfast, so there wasn’t much point in putting any thought into his outfit.  

“Come on, boy.”  Jon locked the house behind them, remembering that his mum was still on night shift, and decided to take his favourite route past Wintertown Motors. 

Walking along with Ghost, Jon’s thoughts inevitably strayed to the same place they always went when unchecked – Sansa Stark. 

He relived the moment he’d seen her again the night before, at the barbeque Catelyn had invited him to.  Jon had been so nervous walking over to Winterfell, but that had all fallen away the moment he’d locked eyes on her again. 

He’d walked down the garden with Robb and Jeyne, Robb reminding him yet again that he worked too hard, and she’d been standing there with that oaf Harry. 

She was wearing her lemon sundress, the one Jon had always liked to see her in, and the sun had shone behind her.  It had illuminated her somehow and Jon had found it hard to concentrate when she spoke. 

He knew he wasn’t good enough for her.  That he would never be good enough for her.  But when he met Harry Hardyng for the first time, Jon figured there was at least someone less worthy of Sansa than him.  

Ghost pulled Jon out of his thoughts by stopping for a piss against a tree.  He made sure that was all Ghost was doing, and continued on when the dog was done.  They had taken this route so often that Ghost knew it by heart and Jon simply needed to follow him. 

Harry Hardyng.  Robb, who had no earthly idea about Jon’s feelings for Sansa or the summer they’d shared together when he was in Lannisport, had spoken freely about Harry when he returned from his spring visit to Sansa in Gulltown. 

Jon had heard about Harry’s existence for the first time at the Starks’ New Year party, but it wasn’t until Robb visited Sansa two-and-a-half months later that he got a real idea of what he was like. 

Jon had waited a whole three days on tenterhooks after Robb’s return to hear about Harry.  Three days in which he’d realized that if he was still this invested in Sansa, there really wasn’t any sort of a future for him with Val. 

They’d met for beers at Castle Black, their favourite pub, and Robb had spilled the beans.  Harry was, apparently, _an egotistical and selfish prick who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Sansa_.  Robb’s words, not Jon’s.

Robb hadn’t liked Harry one bit.  In fact, he’d told Jon that he worried about Sansa’s tendency to fall for completely the wrong sort of guy.  To hear it, Harry wasn’t much better than Joffrey – who had emotionally manipulated and belittled Sansa throughout their relationship.  

Jon cracked his knuckles at the thought of anyone even contemplating hurting Sansa.  

If there was one word that summed up Jon’s own first impression of Harry Hardyng, it was _fake_.  Harry seemed to be all show and no substance.  

Harry hadn’t said much, but Robb had told Jon that while Sansa spent the entire afternoon helping Catelyn set up for the barbeque, Harry had sat with his feet up on the sofa, alternately reading the paper and tapping away on his phone.  

Jon had noted how false his smile had seemed when they shook hands.  Not that he could talk; he’d been as cordial as necessary without appearing rude.  

Maybe it was simply that he didn’t want to like Harry.  That he couldn’t bring himself to like the man who was with Sansa.  The man who got to hear her hopes and dreams for the future and lie beside her at night, listening to the soft huffs she made when she slept.  

No, Jon insisted to himself as he turned back into his driveway, Robb didn’t like Harry either.  Nor had Jeyne seemed very impressed with him.  

Perhaps Jeyne’s simple shrug had been more telling than anything Robb had to say.

There wasn’t much he could do about it, in any case.  Sansa seemed to like Harry well enough.  And for all Robb criticized Harry, he doubted his best friend would see him as much of a prospect either. 

Sansa deserved someone who would treat her like the queen she was, and who had more exciting things to offer than an over-worked hospital administrator who lived with his mother. 

“Good walk?” Jon looked up to see his mother at the front door.  She was still in her work clothes, so Jon figured she couldn’t be long home. 

“Yeah.  We had a good walkies, didn’t we?” Jon patted Ghost, and the Labrador woofed gleefully.  He knew it was breakfast time and bounded into the house, heading straight for the kitchen. 

“How was your shift?” Jon asked as they followed Ghost.  Jon grabbed the bag of Ghost’s favourite breakfast mix and began to pour it into his bowl. 

“Not bad.  Monday nights tend to be quiet, as you know yourself.  A car accident, a couple of drunks and a man who had handcuffed himself to his girlfriend’s bed.  The fire crews had to help remove him, because he’d lost the key.”

“How did he end up in the ER?” Jon lifted Ghost’s water bowl and filled it.

“Her husband came home.”

“Ouch”, Jon winced.  He had always liked to hear his mother’s war stories.  She’d built up a good bank of them over the years. 

“I saw Val this morning”, his mother told him conversationally.  “She was asking after you.”

“Was she?”  Jon knew his mother meant well, but her regular mentions of Val were not helpful. 

They’d always been close, a single mother and her only child, but Jon had never told her about his summer with Sansa.  And his mother had no idea why Jon had really ended things with Val.  He’d only told her that things weren’t working out. 

“You don’t think you guys could make another go of things?  I don’t want you giving up your life for me, Jon.  You deserve to find happiness and to live your own dreams.  I’m in remission.  You don’t need to hover around me.” 

Jon smiled at her, and pulled his mother into a hug. 

“You gave up a lot of your life for me.  What kind of son would I be if I didn’t do the same for you?  Besides, things were never going to work out for me and Val.  It wasn’t fair on her to keep things going when I couldn’t give her what she deserved”, he sighed.  

He couldn’t love her the way she deserved, not when his mind kept straying to Sansa. 

After Val, Jon had resolved not to string another girl along.  He would get Sansa out of his head before he even thought about trying to let anyone else in. 

“Val said she was thinking of applying for a new job up north.  Near where her family is in Queenscrown.”

“I think that would be good for her.  She’d do a good job there.”  Val was an EMT, and although Jon had been around Wintertown General for years, they hadn’t met until Lyanna introduced them one day. 

“I better jump in the shower; I have that committee meeting at ten, and then I’m going to Mikken’s with Robb to pick up the rings.”

“Okay.”  His mother pulled out of his embrace and looked up at him. 

“I just want you to be happy, Jon.  Truly.  If you honestly don’t think you and Val are right for each other, I’ll respect that.  Just – don’t make your work your life.”

“I won’t”, he promised. 

Jon got a towel from the dresser outside the bathroom, and put the shower on full power.  He stripped out of the clothes he’d thrown on for walking Ghost and allowed the water to wash over him.  It would need to be a quick one; he wanted to make sure the meeting started on time.  

The drive over to Wintertown General only took around fifteen minutes, but Jon always spent at least half that time again trying to find a parking space. 

It was worse than normal today because he wasn’t arriving as early as he normally did.  Jon typically aimed to start work around eight-thirty and it was now a little over an hour later than that.

He finally grabbed a space and made his way to the third floor conference room where the meeting would be held.  Wintertown General had a charity committee that aimed to raise money both for the hospital and for health-related causes. 

Jon’s ultimate boss, Chief Administrator Jeor Mormont, who ran the committee, had recently decided to add a new Oncology wing to the hospital and obtained planning permission to do so.  Such an extension required money, however, and they’d need to raise a lot of it. 

The charity committee was made up of both administrators and medical staff and was entirely voluntary.  Jon had joined to both meet new people and because he felt a duty to do so.  He had soon found that he enjoyed it, for all the committee ate into the little free time he found himself with after his mother’s diagnosis. 

It was her recent illness that was pushing Jon to do whatever he could to make the new Oncology wing a reality. 

“Jon – a favour”, Mormont said to him when he walked into the conference room.  Jon nodded. 

“I don’t know if you remember, but Wylla Manderly’s on holiday in Tyrosh at the moment.  Any chance you could take the minutes for us?  They don’t need to be typed up immediately.  I know you’re off the rest of the week.  Next Monday or Tuesday will be fine.” 

“Of course.”  Wylla was slightly junior to Jon, but Mormont had sacrificed a lot work-wise to allow them both off at the same time. 

“Is there anyone else unable to make it?”

“Erm, I don’t think so.  No – Marsh from Geriatrics is still off sick.  Bad back.  Everyone else will be here, or I’ll know the reason why.  The Stark boy still planning on getting married Saturday?  He hasn’t run off with jitters yet?”

“Ah, no.” Jon chuckled.  “I doubt he will.  They’re pretty steady, Robb and Jeyne.  Been together a long time and have a house, a car, a dog……..they’ll stick it out.”

Although they’d been best friends since they were five years old and Jon knew Robb deserved all the good in his life, he did often feel a pang of jealousy.  Robb had a large family, while Jon had been an only child. 

And while Robb was marrying the woman he loved, Jon had to stand by and watch as Sansa showed Harry Hardyng around Wintertown. 

It was partly his fault.  Maybe he should have been honest with her that summer, and told her how he really felt.  But she’d talked about how much she loved King’s Landing and her life there. 

Jon hadn’t wanted Sansa to give up her dreams for him.  He didn’t want her to resent him.  And if she was going to give up everything, it should be for someone far more worthy than him. 

The remainder of the committee trooped in slowly and Jon noted their names one by one.  Last in was Alys Karstark, who worked in the ER under his mother.  Jon gave her a quick smile, and she took the empty seat next to him.  They’d become good friends over the years.  Ever since the summer after Sansa. 

Alys had just started as a trainee nurse and Jon was working security again.  His mother had managed to get him a daytime gig this time.  

Jon had taken pity on Alys and shared a few stories with her, all while assuring her that his mother’s bark was worse than her bite.  They’d eaten lunch together every so often and kept in sporadic touch until Jon was working at Wintertown General full-time.

“We should get started now”, began Mormont.  “I know we normally go over a number of projects, but I want to use this meeting to focus solely on the Oncology Wing fundraising.  Sadly there isn’t anyone in the North, never mind Wintertown, with enough money to cover even the bulk of the cost.  So offering someone the opportunity to pay for it and have it named after them is out.”

“What sort of timeframe are we even looking at?” Alys piped up.  “I know we have planning permission, but is everything costed?  Do we have a start date for the construction?  An end date we need the money by?”

“We have six months.  Construction is due to begin January 15th.  I’ve hired Poole’s to complete the work, and they’ve said that they can take payment in instalments if need be”, Mormont replied.  “So, we need to start coming up with plans to raise half a million gold dragons.”

Jon had seen the costings and been in touch with Poole’s on Mormont’s behalf, but hearing the sum spoken aloud at this meeting brought home to him just how much work needed to be done.

“How about a charity ball?” Edda Tallhart suggested.  “We could make it black tie, have an auction or raffle?”

“If we got local businesses to donate the food and drink and a venue, the cost in hosting the event wouldn’t be too high”, said Jon, his mind running away with Edda’s idea. 

He thought quickly of some local hotels that could be persuaded to let them have a ballroom for free.  Charitable sponsorship was almost as good as free advertising.  And many of the food and drink businesses marked their products up significantly from cost price.  They could afford a few chickens and cases of wine.

“I could ring around some people next week and sound them out”, he offered.  He thought Ned Stark would want to help, though he wouldn’t bother him about it until after the wedding, and Howland Reed had always been philanthropic. 

“How about seeing if a local business would sponsor even part of the wing?” Satin Flowers suggested.  “The design has a garden in the middle – maybe one of the horticultural places would sponsor that?  Or name the day room after someone willing to donate money?”

“It could be done”, Mormont agreed.  “Jon, write all these ideas down and get started on it when you’re back on Monday.”

Jon nodded, and began to write down the suggestions while more came forward. 

Mormont heading up the charity committee had its benefits – it meant that Jon could always fudge a half hour or so once or twice a week to work on committee-related tasks within working hours when necessary. 

He always worked the time back and then some, but Mormont appreciated his flexibility. 

When the meeting came to a close, and Mormont had told him to enjoy the rest of his time off as much as he could, Jon cornered Alys.  He had a huge favour to ask her and hoped she would grant it. 

“Can I have a word with you?”  Alys nodded.  “I need to ask a favour.”

“Okay……” She looked a little suspicious, but Jon knew she trusted him. 

“Robb is pestering me to bring a date to the wedding and he’s threatened to try and set me up with someone.  You don’t fancy a day out on Saturday, do you?  Free food and drink?”

“Jon Snow, how do women resist you?”  Alys placed the palm of her hand over her heart and fluttered her eyelashes at him. 

“Very easily”, Jon snorted. 

“Ah, go on then.  Sigorn’s working so I was planning on spending the day cleaning and doing some grocery shopping for us.  I suppose I could wear that dress I bought in the Christmas sales.”

“Alys, you are a gem among humans.  Thank you.”

“No problem.  Are you sure you don’t want to take an actual date?”  Jon shook his head.

“I’m not interested in meeting anyone at the moment.  It’s complicated.  I just – it is a really, really long story and I won’t bore you with it.” Alys simply nodded and Jon was grateful that she didn’t press him for details.  He didn’t want to have to tell her about Sansa.   

“Oh, there’s the rehearsal dinner too.  That’s on Friday.”  

“Text me the arrangements.  See you Friday, Snow.”

Alys walked off, and Jon felt secure in the knowledge that Robb wouldn’t try to set him up.  He’d made what he thought were subtle hints about Jeyne’s sister, but Jon wanted to avoid Eleyna.  Theon had said she could be a bit clingy, and Jon had spotted her flirting with Harry at the barbeque. 

Mostly, however, Eleyna wasn’t Sansa. 

And Jon was starting to fear that nobody else would come close to being her.

After stopping by his desk to lock away the minutes from the meeting, Jon headed for his car.  Jeyne was taking her mother and sister to the final dress fitting that afternoon so Robb had asked Jon to drive them to Mikken’s and on the other errands they had. 

They also planned to grab lunch and relax away from all things wedding related. 

Reading between the lines, Jon figured Robb was counting down the days until the Westerlings vacated his house.  Specifically his future mother-in-law. 

Robb and Jeyne had bought a three-bed, with a future family in mind, and it had meant all Jeyne’s siblings and her parents were staying with them.  That would change the night before the wedding, however, when Robb was staying over at Winterfell.

When he reached the house, Jon resisted the temptation to simply text Robb and let him know he was outside. 

He parked the car and walked up the pathway.  The sound of Sybell Westerling’s dulcet tones could be heard beyond the front door and it had Jon momentarily regretting his decision. 

He imagined Catelyn Stark would be a much better mother-in-law than Sybell Westerling.  Not that Catelyn would ever be that to him, Jon reminded himself. 

Jon rang the doorbell and heard Jeyne shouting that she would get it.  When the door opened, Jon could see instantly how frazzled she was. 

“Jon!  Come in.”  She hugged him.  “I wish you could rescue me from this chaos as well as Robb.”

“You had your chance to elope”, Jon reminded her. 

“Catelyn and my mother would both have killed us.  Then they would have raised us from the dead and killed us again.”  Jon shrugged and followed her inside. 

Jeyne’s parents were having coffee in the kitchen, while Robb looked like he wished there was whiskey in his. 

“Morning.”  He forced a smile on his face, and Robb looked at him with such gratitude that Jon was almost embarrassed.  “Are you about ready?”

“Yes! Yes, I am”, Robb beamed.  “We should get going.  Traffic in town will be murder this time of day.  It’ll take a while to park and get everything done.”

“Everything?”

“We have other things to do besides pick up the rings”, Robb told him.  “Sybell was kind enough to write us a list to make sure we don’t forget anything.”

“How thoughtful.” Jon faked a smile and agreed they should get going.  Jeyne walked them to the door, and whispered in Jon’s ear as Robb all but ran to the car. 

“He needs a beer.  Buy him a beer.  And a whiskey on the rocks.  He really needs that.”

“It’s ten past eleven”, Jon replied after glancing at his watch.

“And my family took over our house four days ago.”

“We’ll be a while, then.  I might even have a few errands of my own that I need Robb’s help with.”

“You are a star, Jon Snow.”

“So I’m told.  Enjoy your dress fitting.  I hope it goes well for all of you.” 

While he knew the wedding was Jeyne’s day, he was looking forward to seeing Sansa in her bridesmaid’s gown.  She looked stunning whatever she wore, though.  Jon hoped they might be stood next to each other for some of the pictures. 

Jon returned to the car, fastened his seatbelt and turned to Robb.  “Right.  First stop, Mikken’s.”

“I can already feel myself relaxing”, Robb told him when they were stopped at traffic lights.  “I’d forgotten what it was like to live in a full and chaotic house.  I’ve got used to it just being me, Jeyne and Grey Wind.”

“How long is that list of yours?”

“Long.  Aside from the rings, we need to pick up my suit, yours and those for all the other groomsmen.  Plus Jeyne’s dad.  She wants us to stop by the venue and make sure everything is going as planned……”

“Sounds like a busy day”, Jon replied as he pulled away from the lights.  “I’m sure it’ll take us a long time to get through everything.  Maybe even until dinner.  Speaking of meals, I figured we could stop off somewhere for lunch.”

Robb sighed, a big grin on his face.  “That sounds like bliss.  Oh, before I forget – I need you for lunch tomorrow.  You don’t have any plans then, do you?”

Jon couldn’t think of anything.  He’d taken time off this week specifically to help Robb with any last-minute errands.  “Nope.  Another bridal party thing?”

“No, actually.  Jeyne thought we could all go out for a meal tomorrow and catch up without all the wedding stuff getting in the way.  As it is, I’ll hardly see Sansa.” 

“That, uh, that sounds good”, Jon replied in what he hoped was a neutral tone of voice.  “Just a few of us?”

He hoped Harry wouldn’t be there, but it seemed too much to wish for at this point and Jon would take what he could get.

“My siblings, Jeyne’s, you, Gendry, Theon and Harry.”  Robb made a face at Harry’s name, and Jon snorted. 

“Yeah, I know.  Hells, but Harry is a douche.  Arya calls him double H, did you know that?  He and Sansa think it’s because of his alliterative name, but Arya says it stands for Horrible Harry.”

“It sounds like Arya doesn’t think much of him either.”

“Not so much.  She and Sansa have never really had the same taste in guys.  Gendry’s a decent bloke.  Sansa’s never picked one of them out.” Jon nodded silently at the reminder of how unworthy he was of her. 

They said little else on the remainder of the drive to Mikken’s, and were silent when Jon parked up and followed Robb into the store. 

Mikken’s Jewels was quiet when Jon followed Robb inside.  There was only one other customer, who was paying for her purchase. 

Jon looked around at the display while Robb asked for his order.  His mother’s birthday was in a few weeks and he wanted to get her something special to celebrate her remission. 

It wasn’t a milestone birthday, but it would be a significant one nonetheless.  It was a birthday he hadn’t always been sure she would reach. 

“This is nice.” Jon was pulled out of his thoughts by Robb’s voice.  He went over to see Robb pointing at a seashell necklace. 

“You thinking of getting it for Jeyne?” Jon asked.  Robb shook his head. 

“I thought it was the sort of thing Sansa might like.  You know, a part of the North to take back to Gulltown with her.  I want to get her something to make sure she keeps coming back.  Even if it is with that stupid oaf Harry.”

“You should get it for her”, said Jon quietly.  “It’s pretty.  It looks like the sea.”

 _Like the sea_.  Like her _eyes_.

Jon closed his eyes and was transported back four years to a day on the Stony Shore. 

_“It’s beautiful here”, Sansa sighed._

_She was sitting on a rock, leaning back to allow the sun’s rays to catch her skin.  Jon had made sure she brought sun cream.  Her beautiful alabaster skin would end up burnt to a crisp if she didn’t wear any._

_He took in the sight of her on that rock, at the sunglasses she wore.  Jon hated those sunglasses.  They hid her beautiful blue eyes, which reminded him of the sea._

_It had been a fortnight now since that day he’d been rushing out of the drugstore, away from the overly flirtatious foreign woman, and quite literally bumped into Sansa.  He’d taken her for a cheeseburger at Hobb’s and found she was just as lonely as he was._

_He and Sansa had never really spoken much before.  Not about anything deep.  They discussed superficial topics like the grade she’d got on her history paper or a physics equation she couldn’t understand, or the new dog his mother had given him for his sixteenth birthday._

_They discussed when Robb was likely to be back, or if Arya was at home._

_Jon wasn’t sure how much he’d actually known about Sansa Stark before this summer._

_Every weekday afternoon they seemed to spend part of their free time together.  They would go to see old movies at the duplex, or walk Ghost in the park, or sit on the benches in Wintertown Mall and people watch.  They talked about their classes and professors; about their friends and those awful people they tried to avoid; about their hopes and dreams and everything in between._

_Jon wished he’d brought his camera with him to capture her as she was now.  He’d always known that Sansa Stark was pretty, but he’d never realised how beautiful she was – both inside and out – until now._

_In lieu of a camera, he took a quick snap on his mobile phone to capture forever the sight of her on that rock._

_“I’m so glad we came here”, Sansa called to him.  “This was definitely one of your better ideas.”_

_Jon had told her that he sometimes drove down here with Ghost to let him free on the ocean.  The beach was a mixture of pebbled and sandy areas, and Ghost had always loved it._

_He’d invited her to join them on this trip, and picked Sansa up round the corner from Ned Stark’s firm when she finished at midday._

_“Good”, he called back.  He smiled at the happiness in her voice.  She hadn’t had that the day he’d run into her outside the drugstore._

_Jon picked up a stick and threw it towards the incoming tide for Ghost to chase.  The Labrador ran off after it, and Jon went to sit down next to Sansa on the rock._

_“I love the ocean”, he sighed.  “It just seems so endless and full of possibilities.”_

_“How very poetic of you, Jon Snow”, Sansa replied.  She moved her sunglasses up and rested them on top of her head._

_“I don’t know that poetic is ever a word I would use to describe myself.  That’s more your area of expertise.” He nudged her side and chuckled.  “So, studier of Westerosi Lit.  Do you have a favourite poet?”_

_Sansa looked thoughtful.  “Hmmm.  Marillion is pretty lyrical.”_

_“Marillion?  That awful singer?  Wow.”  Jon laughed, and Sansa soon joined in._

_“Nah, I’m only kidding.  I love Barth.  He is just so simplistic, you know?  He doesn’t complicate things just for the sake of trying to look good or sound good or whatever.  He just writes what he sees and what he knows.  He writes beauty.”_

_“See, now, that was poetic”, Jon told her._

_Ghost returned with the stick, and Jon threw it for him again.  He remembered the lunch he’d made and packed for them.  It wasn’t anything fancy.  “Would you like a sandwich?”_

_“What kind?”_

_“I have cheese and ham, and I have plain ham”, he told her.  Jon hadn’t been sure what she liked food-wise, so he’d gone with something basic._

_“Plain ham, please”, Sansa decided.  Jon took the sandwiches out of his rucksack and handed one to Sansa, along with a can of lemonade._

_“Sorry, I don’t have one of those cooler things.  I think Robb has one, but…..”_

_“It’s fine like this”, Sansa assured him.  She took a gulp of the lemonade – a large one – and instantly burped.  “I’m so, so sorry.”_

_“Don’t worry about it.  I figured you came with normal human functions”, Jon told her, and was pleased to see it removed the look of mortification from her face._

_Once they’d eaten, and Ghost had tired of chasing a stick, Jon suggested they go for a walk.  He packed the leftovers back into his rucksack and dumped their rubbish in the bins provided.  “Come on.”_

_He led Sansa down to the shore and took his trainers off._

_Jon loved the squelchy feeling you got when standing in wet sand.  He could feel the grains slip between his toes and was relieved he’d remembered to pack water and a towel for his feet.  He didn’t want to be uncomfortable on the drive back._

_Sansa removed her sandals too, and Jon reached out to take her free hand in his.  He didn’t think much about it but when they started walking along, with the water rushing at their calves, Jon thought it felt like the most natural thing in the world.  He said nothing.  He was content with silence._

_And so, apparently, was Sansa._

_He took glances at her every so often, and soon noticed that Sansa was doing the same to him.  She was doing it shyly, furtively, like he was.  But she was looking at him._

_Jon felt something in his gut that he recognised had been there for a few days now.  Maybe even a week or more._

_Maybe it had even been there the first day he’d taken her to Hobb’s for a cheeseburger._

_Jon chuckled softly as he caught her eye.  “I think we should turn round now and head back to the car.  I don’t want to drop you off too late.  I wouldn’t want Ned and Catelyn worrying about you.  Not that you aren’t an adult.  You are.  Just – it’s time to head back.”_

_Sansa nodded._

_“I wish it wasn’t time to go back”, she said quietly._

_“I can’t remember the last time I came to the beach.  It’s what – an hour or so from Wintertown?  Practically on our doorstep and yet we never come here.  There are a few small beaches just outside King’s Landing, but they’re all full of sewage from the city.  Nobody ever goes there.”_

_“Ghost and I come here quite a lot.  I like having someplace quiet to think every now and then”, Jon told her.  “You should come with us next time.”_

_“I think I will.”  Sansa seemed happy at the thought of that, and they headed back in the direction of Jon’s car._

_Jon washed the sand from his feet and dried them, handing the bottle of water and towel to Sansa once he’d finished, and then he took an extra towel he’d brought to Ghost._

_“Can’t have you messing up the car, boy”, he told him fondly.  Ghost was used to this, but it didn’t stop him from trying to wriggle out of Jon’s grasp.  He laughed.  “Silly boy.”_

_He got Ghost settled in the back seat and turned to see Sansa picking up some stones and shells.  She raised a large seashell to her ear and listened to the sound of the sea from it.  Jon smiled at her, and walked over._

_Her hair was blowing in the wind, and Jon tried and failed to resist the temptation to tuck loose strands behind her ear._

_“I’ve got Ghost settled in the car”, he told her.  “We should get going.”_

_“We should”, Sansa agreed._

_“I thought we could stop for ice cream in Torrhen’s Square on the way back.  They have that great little place with the most amazing sprinkles I’ve ever tasted.”_

_He looked down at Sansa’s lips and wanted nothing more than to capture them in his own.  Jon blinked and forced himself to look up at her eyes again._

_The eyes that reminded him of the sea._

_Sansa saw his eyes begin to shift, and bit her lip.  She’d noticed, and reacted, and that was him gone._

_Slowly, Jon tilted his head to the side and leaned in to softly press his lips to Sansa’s.  His heart was pounding and it got even faster when he realized that she wasn’t pulling away._

_She was parting her lips slightly.  Jon took it as encouragement and opened his own.  He wrapped his arms around her neck and began to explore her mouth slowly and sweetly._

_Sansa tasted faintly of the lemon cake they’d eaten after their sandwiches – her contribution to their picnic – and Jon quickly decided it was his favourite taste ever._

_He moaned softly when her fingers ran through his wild, curly hair and rested on the nape of his neck._

_When they finally moved apart, Jon felt a little bashful and figured it probably showed in his smile.  Sansa looked happy, though, and that was what mattered._

_“I’ve wanted to do that for a few days now”, he admitted._

_“Yeah.  Me too.”_

_The drive home seemed to be cruelly short.  Jon dropped Sansa off round the corner from the Stark home and kissed her goodbye._

_She left him in the car and waved before turning the corner._

_“Wow”, Jon muttered to Ghost.  “Wasn’t that a hell of a day, boy?”_

_Ghost woofed in response, and Jon figured that meant he had the dog’s support.  As soon as Jon got home he texted Sansa._

**_I had a great time today.  Tomorrow, would you like to go to that art gallery in town you were telling me about the other day?  We could go to Hobb’s before or after?  Is it too soon to say I miss you?  Jon._ **

That day had changed everything for him.  It had been the day he’d started to fall in love with Sansa Stark.  And, if Jon was honest with himself, he’d never stopped falling.

“Jon?  Jon?”  Jon opened his eyes again to see Robb looking at him expectantly.  “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine”, Jon gulped.  “Fine.  Yeah, the necklace is pretty.  You should get it for Sansa.  I – uh – I’m going to check out some of these earrings.  I might get a pair for mum’s birthday.”

Jon wandered over to the display on the opposite side of the room and tried to push the memory of Sansa’s lemony lips from his mind. 

He had to stop this.  He had to move past her, somehow.  Jon wasn’t quite sure how he would accomplish it but he knew he had to. 

For the sake of his sanity. 

He saw a pair of beautiful butterfly earrings and checked the price.  These were exactly the sort of thing his mother admired in shops but never treated herself to.  Jon decided to buy them, and to hell with the lecture he’d get on wasting his money. 

Robb called his name, and Jon went over to look at the rings.  “What do you think?”

Jon’s first reaction was that they were wedding bands, and all wedding bands were pretty much the same, but he soon noted an engraving on the inside of each of them. 

One read _I am his and he is mine_ and the other _I am hers and she is mine_. 

“Jeyne will love them”, said Jon.  He turned to Mikken.  “There’s a pair of earrings over here I wanted to take?”

He showed Mikken the ones he wanted, and saw Robb roll his eyes at the amount.  “My mum always loved butterflies”, Jon told him quietly. 

“Could you gift wrap it?” he asked Mikken.  The man nodded, clearly pleased to get another sale.  “Did you decide to get that necklace?  I think Sansa would like it.  Part of the North to take away with her, like you said.”

“Yeah, I think I will”, said Robb. 

Once they had both paid, Jon asked Robb if he wanted to head straight for lunch.  It was only a little after twelve but Jon figured a long lunch was most definitely in order. 

Robb needed to relax and Jon needed to focus on his best man duties instead of brooding. 

“Gage’s?” Robb suggested. 

“Gage’s it is.”  Jon drove the ten minutes it took to get to their favourite diner. 

Gage’s sold unhealthy but tasty food and was somewhere Robb usually only went with Jon.  Jeyne hated the smell of fried food and much preferred going to what she termed _a proper restaurant_. 

It wasn’t too busy, so Robb grabbed them a booth next to the window while Jon made a quick stop at the bathroom.  When he returned, Robb had ordered himself a beer and Jon a coke. 

“The perks of being the designated driver”, said Jon as he raised his can. 

“The perks of Jeyne needing our car”, Robb replied as he raised his bottle.

“What are you going to order?” Jon asked, as he glanced through the menu.  They’d probably both end up having their usual, but he liked to see if there was anything new. 

“Usual”, Robb shrugged.  “Listen, are you alright?  You’ve been pretty quiet today.”

“I’m fine.  I didn’t realize I was normally so chatty.”  Jon winced as he recognised how snarky he was being.  “Sorry.  I’m fine, though.  Really.”

“I wouldn’t ask if I – “

“Are you boys ready to order?” Jon looked at the waitress and nodded. 

“We’ll take two steak subs, rare, with extra fried onion and a side of fries to share”, Jon told her.  He handed back the menus and took a large gulp of coke. 

“Seriously.  I don’t care that I’m getting married in five days.  If there’s something bothering you then please tell me.”  Robb looked worried, and it only left Jon feeling guiltier. 

What was he supposed to do?  Turn round and say to Robb _I’m in love with your sister and have been for four damn years, but I know I’m nowhere near good enough for her and in any case she’s with Harry bloody Hardyng?!_

“Work’s hectic at the moment”, Jon replied lamely.  “The meeting I had today – we need to raise half a million dragons to cover the cost of a new wing for the hospital.”

“New wing?”

“Oncology.”  Robb nodded.

“Ah.” Jon felt even worse; as if he’d used his mother’s recent illness as a way of getting out of a conversation about what was bothering him. 

He justified it to himself by reasoning that he _was_ worried about it, and that it _would_ take up a great deal of his time in the weeks and months to come. 

“You need to relax more.  Go out.  Meet someone.”  Meeting someone new was Robb’s answer to all of Jon’s problems.  He was loved up with Jeyne and wanted the rest of the world to find someone to share their life with too.

It had been the same when they were at White Harbour and he and Jeyne had got together.  Robb had tried to set him up with a succession of girls. 

That was how he had met Ygritte.  She’d worked part-time at the campus coffee shop alongside Jeyne.  After his summer in Lannisport, Robb had come back home even more loved-up than before and desperate to find Jon a girlfriend. 

After months of moping around following his summer with Sansa, Jon had finally given in and allowed Robb to set him up. 

Ygritte’s red hair had reminded him of Sansa.  

Their relationship wasn’t a part of his life Jon was particularly proud of, but he had tried hard.  Gods, had he tried. 

But no matter what he did, Ygritte would never be Sansa.  And so he had ended it before they got as serious as Robb and Jeyne.  Before they talked about houses and rings and children and pets. 

Jon had heard Theon say once that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else, but Ygritte had disproved that particular theory.  

At least as far as Jon was concerned. 

“I’m sure I’ll meet someone soon”, said Jon.  “Gods, but you’re as bad as my mother.  She’s been trying to get me and Val back together; keeps bringing her into conversation.” 

“Maybe you’ll meet someone at the wedding.  Unless you bring a date.  You still have a couple of days to let me know.”

“I have a date.  Alys is taking pity on me”, Jon told him.  He looked out of the window.  “Apparently I’m rescuing her from cleaning and grocery shopping.”

“Alys?” Robb sounded hesitant.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? 

“I’m sure”, said Jon firmly.  But then it occurred to him that perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea, given Robb’s misunderstanding of the situation. 

A misunderstanding that Jon had gone out of his way to avoid rectifying.  

It had been Jon’s birthday around a month after he and Val had split up, and Robb and a few others had insisted on taking him out for a few drinks. 

His mother’s treatment had been successful and she was thinking about going back to work in a few weeks. Just part-time to begin with.  So he hadn’t felt the need to stay in with her. 

They started off at Shadow Tower and moved along the Wall, as the stretch of bars was known, and ended up at Castle Black.  It was there they’d started doing shots and everything had sort of gone to hell. 

Jon was feeling a bit mopey after Arya and Gendry had told him they were going to see Sansa soon, and that she was excited for them to meet Harry. 

Jon had become increasingly mopey as the night had worn on and the shots had come thick and fast.  By the end of the night, he’d made the tactical error of telling Robb things he should never, ever have let slip in front of him. 

He’d told Robb that he was completely gone on a girl who was with someone else; a girl who saw him as a friend and nothing more; a girl he knew he wasn’t good enough for and could never be with. 

He’d told Robb that this girl was the reason he’d broken up with Val. 

Mercifully, Jon discovered the following morning that he hadn’t actually told Robb who this girl was.  Sam had explained that while Jon vomited up what felt like several litres of alcohol.

When it had become clear Jon needed to find a bed and soon, Sam had taken him back to the small apartment he shared with his fiancé, Gilly, and their son. 

Sam said that Robb had also offered him a bed, but his apartment was within walking distance of Castle Black and they couldn’t find a cab willing to transport an inebriated Jon. 

When Jon woke up it was with a pounding head and a stomach that appeared to be at sea.  While the contents of his stomach made their way into the toilet bowl, Sam had repeated Jon’s words back to him. 

Jon was mortified, but also a little relieved that only Robb and Sam had heard what he was saying.  

Although Sam didn’t press him on the subject, Jon felt a need to talk to _someone_ about it.  To talk to _anyone_ about it.  And so Sam was the only person who knew the truth.

Sam had even sent him a text message the day before wishing him luck for the week. 

Robb never brought up the girl he’d mentioned and Jon took his lead.  But a month or so later, Robb had come to meet him for lunch to discuss some things relating to the bachelor party weekend in White Harbour. 

Jon had been talking to Alys, and Robb came over to meet them.  During the White Harbour weekend, Robb had taken Jon aside and made it clear he thought Alys was the girl Jon had been talking about on his birthday. 

Jon had been unable to admit it was actually Sansa and allowed Robb to believe he was right. 

“It’ll be fine”, said Jon dismissively. 

“Honestly.  I’m not looking for someone and Alys won’t expect anything of me beyond a free meal and maybe a dance.  And even that might not last past her seeing me with Eleyna.  Once she realizes how often I stand on a girl’s feet, she might regret that portion of the night.”

Robb was prevented from replying further by the arrival of their food, but he was straight in there as soon as the waitress was out of earshot. 

“Jon, you’re in love with her!  Is it a good idea to invite her when you’ll never be anything more than friends?  I’m thinking of you here.  I’ve never seen you as drunk as I did on your birthday.  Except just after I got back from Lannisport the summer I spent there.  That was a great night!” 

Jon winced at the thought of it.  That night out was just after he and Sansa had separated.  In fact, it was the night after she’d gone back to King’s Landing and Jon had watched as the girl he’d come to love went south. 

“I am not in love with Alys.  I see her only as a friend”, said Jon honestly.  “Please?  Just let it go.”

Robb nodded, and did not mention Alys Karstark for the remainder of the day – other than to say she would be at the same table as Gendry and Harry, and perhaps he should introduce her to the former on the day so she would know someone.  As best man, Jon would be sat at the top table. 

Jon felt grateful but guilty.  Would Robb be as sympathetic if he knew Sansa was the one Jon loved?

Jon turned the conversation to the wedding and the playlist the wedding band had come up with, deciding that was a safer topic.  That carried them through lunch and on to their first stop of the afternoon – picking up the suits from Hodor’s Tailoring. 

Jon felt guilty when Robb said they’d drop them off at Winterfell before heading back to his. 

He was far happier than he should be when they pulled up outside Winterfell at the end of the afternoon.  It had been a long day, but it would be worth it when Jon stepped inside and hopefully saw Sansa again. 

Jon and Robb took half of the pile each and carried them into the house. 

“Hello?!” Robb yelled as he stepped inside.   

Ned was the first person to appear.  He took Jon’s pile from him and led them upstairs to the room Robb had occupied as a child. 

“They’re still at that fitting”, Ned told them.  “Been gone since just after lunch.  Either there’s a lot to be done with Sansa’s dress, they’re being plied with wine, or a war has broken out.”

“Could be any or all of them”, Robb mused.  They laid the garment bags down on the bed that had presumably been made up for Robb to sleep in on Friday night. 

“Jeyne won’t be back either, then.  Why don’t we have a drink?”

“That bad is it?” Ned asked Robb.  Robb snorted in response.

“You have no idea.  I used to think you’d got bad luck with Aunt Lysa.  Please know that it could be worse.”  Jon exchanged a look with Ned, and the two of them seemed to understand Robb’s need for a drink. 

“I suppose I should ask Sansa’s boyfriend to join us”, Ned sighed.  “Come to help out and meet everyone, she said.  He’s spent most of his time reading the paper or complaining about the wi-fi signal.”

Robb was clearly in agreement with his father.  “Urgh.  Don’t get me started.  How Sansa ends up with such idiots, I will never know.  I said to Jon earlier – not once has Sansa introduced me to a guy anywhere near good enough for her.”

Jon felt a little uncomfortable.  Every time he heard Ned or Robb or even Arya speak like this about one of Sansa’s boyfriends, it made him feel as if he was the one being judged. 

And it was ludicrous.  Sansa had never even broached the subject of telling her family about him.     

“Come on, then.  Jon’s driving but I’ll have a whiskey and soda”, Robb told Ned. 

Jon followed them out of the room and downstairs.  He heard Ned call to Harry to join them and tried to calm himself.  Jon didn’t want to get into an argument, or even a debate, with Harry. 

In fact, he’d quite like to pretend that Harry didn’t exist.

“Where are Bran and Rickon?” Jon asked when Ned handed him a coke. 

“Bran’s got his internship at Howland’s, and Rickon is scarpering as soon as Cat has anything wedding-related for him to do”, replied Ned.  He handed Robb a whiskey and pulled on his own. 

“How’s Bran getting on?” Jon asked.  “I know he’s always agreed with Jojen and Meera politically.”

By that, Jon meant he was well aware of the time Robb had to bail Bran out of jail when he was arrested during a pro-environment or climate change demo in Torrhen’s Square. 

Jon couldn’t remember which way round it was, only that he’d been as surprised as Robb that mild-mannered Bran had been the first Stark child to be arrested. 

“He’s enjoying it.  Howland has him working hard, but a lot of what Bran is studying in Oldtown applies to Howland’s firm.  He might work there after graduation.  I had hoped he would join us, but maybe that’s more to his taste”, sighed Ned. 

“Maybe”, agreed Robb.  “But there’s no reason he couldn’t do both.  He could work for Howland for a few years and then move over to us.”

“Who is running things while you’re both off this week?” Jon asked.  It was rare for Ned and Robb to take the same vacation time. 

“Harwin and Hullen”, replied Ned.  “I checked in with them this afternoon and everything is going fine.

Harry appeared in the doorway, and Jon felt fire grow in his belly at the hint of nervousness in Harry’s face. 

After a day in which he’d thought almost constantly of Sansa (something he managed to limit when she wasn’t at home) Jon found it pleasing to see him squirm. 

“Whiskey?” Ned asked kindly.  Harry nodded and walked in to join them. 

“Thanks.  I’ve been working all day.  I’ve kept in touch with the office in Gulltown to work through some of the mergers I’ve got on my desk at the moment.” Harry seemed to make his job sound like the most important thing in the world. 

Jon compared that to Sam, who taught History at Wintertown High, and found Harry and his obsession with money coming up short.  In his eyes, it was people like Sam who actually made a difference in the world.

“I’m sure they’re grateful”, said Ned.  He looked at Robb and Jon for support.

“I don’t suppose your firm has a spare half a million lying around?” Robb asked.  Jon mentally punched the sofa in frustration. 

The only thing worse than not raising the money needed for the new Oncology Wing was raising it and knowing he was beholden to Harry sodding Hardyng of all people.

“What?” Harry spluttered.  “Are you looking to invest?”

Robb laughed.  “No.  The hospital Jon works at is looking for half a million gold dragons to expand their cancer treatment.”

“My company is about making profits”, Harry replied smugly.  “We don’t do charity.”

“A shame”, said Jon.  “They’ll miss out on having part of the new wing called after them.”

“Ned?!” Catelyn Stark’s voice permeated the house and prevented an argument between the men present.  “Where are you?”

“In here”, her husband called.  Jon grinned as Arya was the first one of them to appear. 

“Whiskey!” she exclaimed.  “Pour me one, will you?  You might as well make a permanent donation to a distillery, because Robb is going to need it.  Jeyne must take after her father.”

“Thanks”, she huffed as Ned handed her a glass.  Jon then gave Arya a quick hug.  He’d always seen her as the younger sister he never had. 

“Your afternoon that bad?” he murmured.  Arya nodded.  “How’s your dress?”

“Mine isn’t that bad.  It’s Sansa’s Mrs. W. has a problem with”, she sighed in exasperation.  Jon watched Arya roll her eyes and frowned.  He was puzzled.  Sansa would look amazing in a sack, though he hesitated to say so. 

“Sansa looks amazing and Eleyna is meant to be maid of honour.  So she’s the one everyone is supposed to look at after Jeyne.  I think if Mrs. W. had her way, Sansa would be wandering round all day with some sort of mask on.”

“Ah”, said Jon in understanding.  But, then, he’d anticipated that Sansa would outshine the bride never mind the maid of honour.  Jon couldn’t wait to see her in the dress. 

“Just leave it alone, Arya”, said Catelyn as she clearly overheard what her younger daughter had been saying.  Jon watched as she eased herself onto the sofa with a large glass of wine. 

The Starks seemed to be using that as their coping mechanism this week and Jon could do nothing but approve.  He could really go a bottle of whiskey or wine at the moment. 

He had both at home, and no need to drive the following morning.

“Jon’s up for lunch tomorrow”, said Robb.  “And I called Theon this morning.  He’s free then too.”

“Good”, Arya nodded.  Jon knew she wasn’t overly fond of Jeyne’s family.  “You can sit with me and Gendry.”

“There you are!” Jon turned as Sansa entered the room and spotted Harry.  “I thought you’d still be upstairs.  Did you manage to get all that work done?”

“Just about”, Harry yawned.  He stretched his arms out.

Jon watched Sansa sit down next to Harry and cuddle in next to him.  He looked away.  Jon wanted to see Sansa, but he didn’t want to see Sansa with Harry. 

Jon went over to stand beside Robb.  “Is there anything you need me to do tomorrow, or is lunch the only thing you have planned?”

“Just lunch.  And leave the car at home so you can have a beer this time.  I felt like a right prat sitting there with one when you were drinking a soda.

“Okay.”  Jon would need to be careful, though.  He didn’t want a repeat of his birthday night out.  “I should get going.  I need to swing by the grocery store on the way home.”

“You don’t want to stay for dinner?” Ned asked.  Jon shook his head. 

“No.  I appreciate the offer, but I nearly finished off the milk this morning and Ghost is due a walk besides.”  _And I’m not sure I could spend the meal avoiding staring at your eldest daughter_.  “What time is lunch tomorrow?”

“One thirty”, Arya piped up from next to him.  Jon hadn’t heard her come over.  “We’re going to Hobb’s.”

“Hobb’s?” Jon repeated.  He and Sansa had always gone to Hobb’s.  Jon had only been back a couple of times since.  It hadn’t felt right going there without her. 

Somehow, without Jon realizing it at the time, it had become _their_ place.

“Yeah, it’s at Wintertown Mall”, she told him. 

“I, uh, I know where it is”, Jon replied.  “They do great cheeseburgers there.  So.  I should – I should get going.  Get to the grocery store before they run out of milk.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When he made it out to the car, Jon sighed heavily.  Lunch at _their_ place with Harry and ten other people?  Jon thought momentarily about coming up with a flimsy excuse to get out of it, but dismissed the idea. 

He’d have to get used to being around Sansa and Harry at some point, particularly given she was an important part of the wedding. 

And, if Jon was honest with himself, he’d take all the time with Sansa he could get. 

His plan to move on really wasn’t getting off to a great start. 

Jon turned the key in the ignition and started the car, mentally going over his shopping list.  Time he spent deciding whether or not to buy another box of that new cereal he’d bought last week was time he didn’t spend wallowing over Sansa. 

Once he’d gone over the list, Jon forced himself to think about the fundraising required for the new Oncology wing.  He liked Edda’s idea of a ball.  If they could put it together on donations then there was potential to make a lot of money from it. 

Jon had always hated the financial side of his job but it was a necessary one. 

Jon wondered if they could perhaps hold a raffle for the naming of the wing.  They could charge a dragon for entry and then draw a winner who would be able to select a name for it. 

He pulled over and typed out a quick e-mail to Mormont on his phone. 


	3. Day Three - Sansa

_“Would you like to go back to mine?” Jon asked her.  Sansa nodded.  She knew what Jon was asking, and the answer was always going to be yes._

_It was only ten days since their trip to Stony Shore, but Sansa felt as if she and Jon had always been together.  He wasn’t the kind of man she usually went for, but perhaps that was a good thing._

_When she said yes to him, Sansa knew that Jon would not have held a negative answer against her.  That hadn’t been the case in Sansa’s past experience._

_She slipped her hand in his, and they walked back to where he’d parked his car._

_The cheeseburger she’d just eaten began dancing in Sansa’s stomach.  She was nervous, but they were happy and excited nerves.  It wouldn’t be her first time but it would be their first time._

_Since that day at Stony Shore, their time together had changed.  They still mostly did the same things, but Jon would greet her with a kiss, hold her hand and kiss her goodbye.  They often drove out of town and spent time kissing in the back of his car._

_It was different and the same all at once._

_Jon kissed her before he started the car.  On the way over to his house they talked about the film they’d seen the day before and whether or not the rumoured sequel would ever be made._

_It was raining and Jon gave her his jacket as an umbrella of sorts to get her from the car to his house._

_Ghost was pleased to see her and Jon ordered him to sit and leave Sansa alone.  She didn’t mind.  She’d always wanted a dog, but her mother was never keen on the idea._

_Sansa knelt down and played with Ghost for a couple of minutes while Jon put away a few things he’d picked up at the grocery store before they met up._

_When Jon came back, he took her hand and led her upstairs to his room._

_“No pressure.  If you change your mind at any point and want to stop, we stop”, he told her before they went inside._

_“I know”, said Sansa.  She also knew that she wasn’t going to want to stop.  This thing with Jon had taken on a life of its own and it had consumed her._

_Jon opened the door and Sansa took in his bedroom.  It was plainer than she’d imagined it, with only a Northern Wolves calendar on the wall._

_She wondered idly if his dorm room in White Harbour was as non-descript._

_“Sansa”, he whispered, before kissing her._

_It was a kiss that started off soft and slow and became more and more intense, and Sansa felt it all the way to the tips of her toes.  Jon explored her mouth and tasted of mint, perhaps from the ice cream they’d shared at Hobb’s._

_She wasn’t sure yet what this thing between them was, only that she didn’t want it to stop._

_Jon’s mouth left hers and he kissed his way down her neck, muttering softly._

_“Sansa…...my beautiful……..wonderful…….perfect……Sansa.”_

_Her breath hitched as Jon sucked on her pulse point.  She could feel it between her legs and rubbed them together, moaning softly.  She wanted this to be fast and slow at the same time; to have him fill her and have him map out her entire body._

_“Jon”, she whimpered._

_“I know.  I know.”  Jon ran his fingers through her hair and looked her straight in the eyes as he did so.  He made her feel as if he were looking inside her soul.  Jon brought up a hand and cupped her cheek lightly._

_“I want you.  Hells, do I want you.  We’ll do this slow, yes?”_

_Sansa couldn’t speak.  She only nodded, and brought his mouth back to hers.  It broke that intense gaze of his and that calmed Sansa somewhat.  At times, the intensity in his eyes left her unable to think._

_Jon took her hand in his and led her over to the bed.  Without leaving her mouth, Jon sat down on the side and pulled Sansa onto his lap._

_She could feel him starting to grow hard and chased the contact, leaving Jon groaning deliciously in her mouth._

_Sansa brought his hand up to the top of the white sleeveless shirt she’d chosen for work that morning, and led him to the first button.  Jon took the hint, and started to undo them, working his way down until it was loose._

_Sansa broke apart from Jon, and took the shirt off.  She threw it on the floor behind her and then tugged at the black White Harbour t-shirt he wore.  Jon smiled softly and threw his own top in the direction of hers._

_“You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes upon.”  Sansa felt a little shy at that obvious exaggeration, but took the compliment anyway.  Jon’s fingers ghosted up and down her bare arms and Sansa found herself shivering slightly at the touch._

_She could hear the pitter patter of the rain on Jon’s window, but the only storm she was interested in was the one building in his dark grey eyes._

_Jon’s mouth found its way back to her skin as he kissed his way from her throat to the valley between her breasts, and his thumbs circled her nipples through her bra.  Sansa whimpered and chased the contact with his crotch even more._

_“More”, she breathed, her voice strangled._

_Sansa reached round her back and unclasped her bra.  It joined her shirt on the floor and Sansa felt the cool air hit her nipples.  Jon immediately attacked a small group of freckles on her left breast with his tongue, while he played with her right nipple._

_Sansa wondered briefly if he could bring her off with just his mouth._

_No man had ever made her feel half as good as this._

_Sansa rocked against Jon and brought her hands round to his strong, muscular back.  She ran her nails up and down it and found herself increasingly turned on by the moans it elicited from Jon._

_He’d said he wanted her, and gods did Sansa Stark want Jon Snow._

_Jon spun them around quickly and Sansa found herself lying down on top of his bed.  She smiled up at Jon, who hovered over her._

_He looked a tad bashful and had his fingers on the top of her black pants.  “I’d like to take these off.”_

_Sansa nodded.  “Take all of it off.”  Jon smiled back at her, understanding that it all meant her panties as well._

_He unzipped her pants and pulled them down her legs slowly, seeming to savour every touch.  They ended up on the floor along with the rest of her discarded clothes, and Sansa moaned as Jon kissed his way up her legs._

_She wanted to rub her legs together and create the friction she craved.  She wanted her fingers in between her legs._

_Instead, she had Jon’s tongue licking and sucking at her and making noises Sansa had never heard before._

_When he made it to the top of her legs, Jon kissed her centre through her panties and Sansa knew she was a goner._

_If she died in the next five minutes, she would die happy._

_“Jon.  Hells, Jon.  Stop teasing”, she murmured.  But Jon only gave her one of those soft, chocolatey chuckles and teasingly began to pull her panties down her legs._

_He stood up once they were down at her ankles and unbuckled his belt, removing it and his jeans so he was stood in only his boxers._

_Sansa raised herself up on her elbows and saw his cock strain through the fabric.  She lifted her eyes up to meet Jon’s and they were an even darker, stormier grey than they had been before._

_Sansa’s breath hitched as Jon removed her panties from her ankles and settled himself on the bed.  He separated her legs and moved in between them.  “Do you trust me?”_

_Sansa nodded, unable to speak._

_“I want to make you feel good.  You want me to stop, say so and we will.”_

_Sansa knew she wouldn’t say anything.  Jon was close to pushing her over the edge, and every movement he made got her ever closer._

_He bent down and started kissing her legs again, concentrating on the inside of her thighs.  His fingers made their way to her hips and began rubbing soothing circles._

_“Jon”, Sansa muttered his name and threw her head back.  She bit her lip and then let out an almighty moan when she felt his tongue swipe along her slit._

_Heaven had a name and it was Jon Snow._

_He sucked and licked her to her peak, brought her down and then did the same thing all over again.  Sansa found herself a sobbing, whimpering mess and he wasn’t even inside her yet._

_She’d never known pleasure as good as this and Jon was the last person she’d thought would give it to her._

_Sansa had underestimated him and somewhere at the back of her brain she vowed never to do so again._

_Jon kissed the top of her mound and looked up at her.  Sansa met his gaze and smiled happily at him.  She pulled Jon up and brought his lips to hers so she could taste herself on them._

_There was a tang there she hadn’t experienced earlier when they’d kissed._

_“Fuck, you taste good”, Jon murmured in her ear.  “I could taste your cunt all day every day and still find myself hungry for more.”_

_His fingers were between her legs, and as amazing as it felt Sansa stilled his hand and brought it up to her mouth.  She licked her juices from one of his fingers and Jon sucked the other dry before she could beat him to it._

_“I want you inside me”, Sansa whimpered.  Jon nodded.  He pulled his boxers off and grabbed a condom from the bedside cabinet._

_Once he was sheathed, Jon positioned himself between her legs and Sansa guided him inside her._

_Jon had got her so slick and wet that he slid inside her easily.  Sansa felt him fill her up and found it a more comforting sensation than she could ever recall._

_It seemed right.  As if a missing piece of a jigsaw had been slotted into place to complete the puzzle._

_“Sansa……Sansa…..Sansa”, Jon chanted her name as he moved inside her.  He lowered his head and captured a nipple in his mouth, sucking on it as they moved together in sync.  Sansa could feel herself rising again.  She was close and getting closer._

_“Sansa, I’m going to – I’m – “_

_Sansa felt him spasm inside her.  She moved a hand down to her clit and it only took a few moments for her to join him._

_“Wow”, she breathed.  “That was – wow.”_

_Sansa couldn’t quite put into words how she’d felt.  She only knew that this was the experience everyone had talked of._

_During sex education at school, a poor, mortally embarrassed guidance counsellor had explained to them that sex should be about an emotional connection between two people._

_Sansa had never found that before, but she had with Jon._

_Jon kissed her softly, before pulling out of her.  “That was amazing.  You were amazing.”_

_“Right back at you”, Sansa smiled up at him.  Something seemed to have shifted between them, but in a good way._

_Or perhaps that was merely the afterglow._

_Jon grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on his bedside cabinet.  He removed the condom, wrapping it in the tissues after tying it off.  He took some more and wiped his cock and Sansa’s centre before disposing of it all in the wastepaper basket._

_Sansa watched Jon as she relived their lovemaking.  He quickly joined her on the bed and Sansa could hear that the rain had stopped._

_Jon lay down behind Sansa and wrapped his arms around her.  He kissed her shoulder and Sansa had never felt so cherished._

_“You are amazing”, he told her._

_“Yeah, you’re not so bad yourself.”_

_They spent the next hour or so simply lying on the bed.  Jon ran his fingers up and down her arm and kissed her shoulder every so often._

_He murmured soft endearments to her skin and Sansa felt a pang of loss when he realized the time._

_Their afternoon had come to an end._

_Jon dropped her off at their usual place, round the corner from Winterfell.  Neither of them had discussed telling anyone about this thing that was happening between them, and that suited Sansa just fine._

_She didn’t want to deal with Robb and Arya’s questions or those of her parents.  Sansa loved this little bubble she and Jon had created for themselves._

_“I’ll see you tomorrow”, Jon promised when he kissed her goodbye.  “Ghost won’t be happy if he doesn’t get a proper walk.  How about an afternoon at Wolfswood?”_

_“That sounds amazing”, Sansa sighed.  She kissed him again, chasing the pleasure she’d felt that afternoon.  “Hopefully I don’t look like I’ve spent the entire afternoon in bed.”_

_“Just some of it”, Jon joked wickedly.  He tucked her loose hair behind her ear, and then kissed her forehead softly.  “I’ll text you later.”_

_Sansa nodded.  “Goodbye.”_

_She left the car and walked round the corner to Winterfell feeling light and giddy.  Who knew that Jon Snow had such a talented mouth?_

Sansa woke slowly.  She’d dreamed about that first afternoon with Jon again, and chased the fulfilment she’d felt that day as reality began to creep in. 

The memory of Jon’s mouth on her breast as he filled her up consumed Sansa, and she wanted to reach out and touch him. 

When she opened her eyes, Harry had a hand up her tank top and she could feel his cock pressing into her leg. 

“Morning”, he muttered.  “Finally awake, I see.”

It had been a late night as the family had consumed her time.  Harry had given numerous hints about heading to bed; hints Sansa had pretended not to notice as she discussed working for Yohn Royce with her father, and listened to her mother’s plans for a weekend in the Riverlands once the stress of Robb’s wedding was over. 

When they had gone upstairs, she’d finished Harry off quickly and then turned over to go to sleep. 

The memory of that afternoon with Jon brought back for her just how mind-blowing that side of things had been with him. 

She wasn’t sure it had ever been like that with Harry.  Which was – it was fine.  Jon was obviously some sort of anomaly. 

Sansa lay back and let Harry fill her with his morning wood, feeling guiltier and guiltier that it was Jon who consumed her mind rather than the man currently whispering her name as he pounded into her. 

Once Harry was finished, Sansa announced her intention to have a quick shower.  Sated, Harry turned back over and was soon sleeping again. 

Sansa scrubbed herself raw in the shower, trying to remove the memory of Jon’s lips on her skin.  She was with Harry now and they’d built up a solid foundation. 

Nine months they’d been together; nine months since that day she’d sat in a wine bar round the corner from Royce Chemical Industries, waiting for an increasingly late Mya. 

Seeing her alone, Harry had come over and flirted.  He stepped aside when Mya arrived, but left with Sansa’s phone number and the promise of a date. 

It didn’t help that she always associated Jon with her life in Wintertown, a place she missed fiercely. 

More than once, the idea of sounding Harry out on them moving here together passed through her mind.  But this was the first time she’d managed to convince him to come north for a visit, never mind to live.  If Harry was ever going to do that, it would be a long time coming. 

By the time Sansa had finished her shower, dried her wet hair and dressed, Harry was just starting to wake up again.  “It’s after eleven now.  We’ll need to leave in a couple of hours to go out for lunch.”

Sansa was both looking forward to and terrified of the meal in equal measure.  Harry groaned at the mention of it, but Sansa had insisted they both go. 

The issue of Jon aside, she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her family on this trip and lunch afforded her an excellent opportunity to do just that. 

“You jump in the shower, and I’ll head down for breakfast.”  Sansa kissed Harry lightly and went downstairs. 

“You look nice, sweetheart”, said her mother.  “Have a good sleep?”

“I did”, Sansa smiled.  She looked down at the outfit her mother had complimented and decided she’d need to change before going out for lunch. 

After her dream, she’d put on a white shirt and black pants without thinking about it.  The same things Jon had removed their first afternoon in bed together. 

“I just threw this on for now.  I’ll get changed before we go out for lunch.  I, uh, I didn’t want to spill any of my cereal on something I was wearing out.”

“I’m glad you’re all going out for this lunch.  It’ll be nice for everyone to see each other without having to deal with wedding stuff.  Your father and I need to run a few errands, and I promised we’d pop into the Wintertown Grand to see Lysa and Edmure.  Arya and Gendry got in late last night.  If they still aren’t up by midday, brave a knock on the door and get them up?” 

Sansa snorted.  She wasn’t sure she would survive such an encounter, but promised to do so anyway. 

Sansa bade farewell to her parents and set about breakfast.  She’d have a large lunch, so a bowl of cornflakes would do her fine.  Robb and Jeyne appeared halfway through her meal. 

“Morning.” Robb kissed the top of her head and sat down opposite her.  “How are we today?”

“Good”, Sansa smiled.  “You?”

“Relaxed.  We’re halfway through this week of madness.  No wonder honeymoons were invented.  They’re to give the happy couple a rest after the manic running around the week before they get married.”

“Don’t knock it”, Sansa admonished.  “It’ll be worth it on Saturday.”

“Oh, I hope so”, sighed Jeyne.  “I’d forgotten how demanding and ever-present my mother can be at times.”

Sansa agreed with that assessment of Sybell Westerling, but decided it was best all round if she kept her mouth shut. 

She finished her breakfast while Robb made coffee for the three of them.  As if she’d heard the kettle boiling, Arya suddenly appeared.  She wore one of Gendry’s t-shirts and a pair of mis-matched socks.

“Morning”, she grumbled.  “Pour one out for me, would you?”

“Good night?” Sansa asked.  Arya made a noise that could have signified agreement or the opposite.  “What time did you get in?  I didn’t hear you.”

“Around two, I think.  Hot Pie had us doing shots.  We were celebrating his promotion.  He’s now a sous chef at that fancy restaurant he works at.”  Hot Pie was one of the few school friends Arya had kept in touch with.  Sansa knew that she and Gendry went out with him whenever he had a rare night off. 

Robb handed Arya a coffee.  “Thanks.  You’re a bit early, aren’t you?  Our booking isn’t for another couple of hours.”

“Believe it or not, it is quieter here than it is at our place”, Jeyne told her.  Arya laughed, but made no comment. 

“Where’s Harry?”

“In the shower”, said Sansa.  She got up and took her bowl over to the sink.  She rinsed it through, and then put it in the dishwasher. 

“How is Harry enjoying Wintertown?” Robb asked when Sansa turned back round.  She stood at the counter and sipped her coffee. 

“Fine.  He’s – we haven’t had much of a chance to spend time together.  But, yeah.  He doesn’t hate it.” 

Or at least he hadn’t said so, which Sansa hoped amounted to the same thing.  She saw Arya and Robb exchange a look, one she didn’t like. 

Sansa knew that whatever her father said about him liking Harry as long as he treated her well, Arya and Robb had hardly warmed to her boyfriend. 

Robb was over-protective of her and had never, admittedly, liked any of Sansa’s boyfriends.  She wasn’t even sure if he would’ve approved of Jon being with her.  And Arya – well, for all Sansa was fond of Gendry, the two sisters had never really looked for the same thing in a man. 

“I’m going to run to the bathroom”, said Jeyne.  Sansa closed her eyes as her future sister-in-law left the room.  This was starting to feel very much like an intervention. 

She’d experienced it before, with Joffrey.  But they’d been right about Joffrey.  He might never have hit her, but Joffrey abused her emotionally for almost their entire relationship. 

Harry wasn’t like that. 

“Sansa, are you happy?”  Robb asked. 

She didn’t know quite how to answer his question.  Partly because she wasn’t entirely sure she would like the answer if she examined the issue too closely. 

“I’m not unhappy”, she settled on.  And it was true, after a fashion. 

“I have a job I find fulfilling, even if it isn’t something I’ve spent my life desperate to do.  I have friends and family I love.  I have Harry.”

Sansa didn’t miss the look on Robb’s face when she said Harry’s name. 

“Are you actually happy with him?  Sansa, you can tell me to go to hell if you want to.  You honestly can.  But I’ve seen the two of you over the last couple of days.  He expects you to wait on him hand and foot.  You – you don’t light up when he walks into a room.  You don’t follow him with your eyes wherever he goes.”

“What kind of romantic mush has Jeyne got you watching?” Arya asked.  The coffee seemed to have woken her up somewhat.  “Yeah, he isn’t as bad as Joffrey.  But that’s pretty much the best thing that can be said for him.”

“Oh.” 

“We just want you to be happy, Sansa.” Robb came over and gave her a quick hug.  “I mean it.  We want you to be happy.”

“I know”, Sansa said softly. 

Robb refilled the kettle and set it on to boil again. 

“We know you can be happy”, said Arya, and Sansa felt touched.  She and Arya didn’t always have the sisterly bond she’d read about in novels, but they stuck by each other when it mattered. 

“You were happy enough that summer Robb was in Lannisport.  In fact, I don’t know you’ve ever been as happy as you were then.”

Sansa froze, and there must have been something in her face that Arya picked up on. 

“Sansa?  Sansa, what – “

“Of course I was happy that summer”, she said harshly, desperately trying to rescue the situation.  “Robb was away and you had that soccer camp.  It meant I didn’t have anyone around to bother me.”

“Who is bothering you?” Sansa turned to see Harry walk in the room. 

“Nobody right now.” Sansa forced a smile on her face.  “Robb’s got the kettle on – do you want coffee?”

“Please”, Harry nodded.  He sat down at the table opposite Arya.  “Any chance of some toast?”

“The bread is over there”, Arya told him, pointing towards the counter.  She walked over to the kettle and poured out two cups of coffee. 

“I’m going to take this up to Gendry.  We’ll be ready to leave around one.  You better call us a couple of cabs, Robb.”

“I’ll get your toast”, sighed Sansa when Arya had left the room.  She put a couple of slices of bread in the toaster and took butter and jam from the fridge, leaving it on the table next to Harry. 

“Thanks, babe.  You eat already?” 

“Yeah, I had some cereal”, Sansa nodded. 

Robb muttered something about going to find Jeyne and left the two of them alone in the kitchen.  Luckily for Sansa, Harry was never talkative at the breakfast table. 

He ate his toast while scrolling through news websites on his phone – which left Sansa time to brood over Jon, and the attempt Robb and Arya had made at an intervention. 

She hoped Arya would give her a wide berth on that summer.  She wasn’t sure what her face had given away, but she doubted a fling with Jon was the first place Arya’s mind would go to. 

Even that summer, when Jon had been over at the Stark house or at the soccer tournament Arya’s camp put on during the final week, they’d never been anything more than casual friends around her. 

In fact, Sansa suspected Jon was the last person Arya would think she’d been in a relationship with.  He was just so different to anyone else she’d been with. 

At the time, Sansa had thought that a good thing.  Now she wondered how much she knew herself at all. 

Keen to try and leave as many memories of Jon behind as she could – something that was difficult to do given where they were going for lunch – Sansa ran upstairs just before they left and changed into a navy and white summer dress, and a navy cardigan. 

She threw on her white sandals, mercifully still clean after the other night, and got back down as the first cab appeared. 

They split into two groups of four for the journey to Hobb’s.  Robb got into the first car with Bran, Rickon and Gendry.  Robb had made sure they knew in advance that one of the cabs needed to be wheelchair friendly and when it appeared, he asked Gendry and Rickon to give him a hand. 

When the second one arrived, Harry jumped into the front alongside the driver while Arya, Sansa and Jeyne found themselves in the back. 

It was a small car, and Sansa found her long legs squashed against Harry’s chair in front.  Sometimes she felt a little jealous of Arya’s petite frame. 

Sansa groaned internally when their cab dropped them off outside Hobb’s at the same time as Jon walked up. 

She watched as he gave Robb a hand with Bran’s wheelchair, feeling Harry wrap a possessive arm around her waist. 

Jon went in first, and Sansa could see old Mr. Hobb, the owner, greet him.  They’d spoken to Mr. Hobb a few times that summer, and Sansa wondered if her day could possibly get any worse. 

“Mr. Jon!” Hobb exclaimed.  “How are you?  It has been a long time.  Yes, I think four years?  You brought your mother with you that last time.  And how is she?”

“Good.  She’s good now”, Jon amended.  “She wasn’t well for a while, but she’s recovered.  And you?  How is your family?”

“Much the same, much the same.  My daughter had her first baby last year.  A little boy.  Dareon, they’ve called him.  You should hear him laugh – it’s like music to my ears.”  Sansa bit the inside of her mouth nervously at Mr. Hobb’s words. 

If there was one person who could completely out her and Jon – not that they’d ever done anything more than hold hands in here.  She looked over at the corner booth they’d often occupied and wondered if it was too late to feign a headache. 

“We’ve got a booking for one thirty”, she heard Jon say.  “Westerling/Stark?”

“Of course, of course”, smiled Mr. Hobb.  Sansa could feel Arya grow impatient behind her and tightened her grip on Harry’s hand.  Jon moved off towards the table Mr. Hobb had indicated, and Sansa found herself facing him. 

“Miss Sansa?  But, of course.  And how are you, my dear?  Another stranger.”

“I am well, thank you, Mr. Hobb.”  Sansa forced a smile across her face. 

“It has been – oh, four years?  I – “

“I live in Gulltown now”, Sansa told him, interrupting before he could incriminate her.  “I’m very happy there.  This is Harry, my boyfriend.  We’re in town for a few days.  My brother is getting married.”

“Ah.  I see.  Well, how delightful to have a wedding in the family.  Please, go and sit down.”

Sansa took a deep breath in and moved towards the table.  She was relieved when Harry guided her to two seats halfway down, rather than next to Jon at the far end. 

Sansa tried to focus and picked up her menu to make it appear she was studying it intently. 

“You used to come here a lot, then?” Harry asked.  “Must have, if the manager recognizes you.”

“I’m surprised he does”, said Sansa.  “I didn’t really come very often.  Just days when I was passing through the mall and fancied something to eat.  I should say to Robb that we’re best off ordering a couple of bottles of wine for the table instead of getting it by the glass.”

Sansa looked around for her brother and saw that he and Jeyne had taken seats next to Jon. 

“Robb will probably think of that himself.  Or Jeyne will”, she said. 

Sansa noted that her sister was sitting diagonally opposite her and Harry, not far from where Robb, Jeyne and Jon were.  Arya fixed her with a stare that had Sansa nervous. 

“I think I’ll go to the bathroom before we order”, said Arya decisively.  She handed her phone and purse to Gendry to look after.  “Sansa, you want to come with?”

“Okay”, said Sansa meekly.  She could tell by the steely determination in Arya’s eyes that following her sister was the only option available to her and winced. 

As much as Sansa hoped against hope that Arya hadn’t put two and two together and got four, she knew her sister could be perceptive. 

It was what had pushed her into studying Psychology at Wintertown University, as Sansa ultimately had in King’s Landing. 

Sansa followed Arya to the bathroom, and watched as her sister pushed open each cubicle door in turn to ensure they were alone.  Only then, when she was sure they were, did Arya look Sansa in the eye. 

“So, you and Jon?”

“Me and Jon what?” Sansa wasn’t going to make this easy for Arya.  If her sister knew, then she knew.  But Sansa wasn’t about to give away anything unless she had to. 

For four years, she hadn’t told a soul – save Margaery.  None of the family knew.  Harry didn’t know.  And Robb most certainly did not.  Sansa knew her brother would’ve brought up the subject by now if Jon had somehow, miraculously, told him. 

But Sansa thought he probably never would.  And maybe that was what had ultimately torn them apart – the knowledge that their bubble couldn’t exist forever.

“Don’t try and be smart, Sansa.  That summer, when Robb was away, there was something going on between you and Jon.  There was, wasn’t there?”  Sansa didn’t deny it.  She simply shrugged. 

“You were happy”, breathed Arya.  Sansa felt it in her gut as she thought of that summer. 

Of Jon’s smiles and the way he would kiss her as if it were their last moments in the world.  The caress of his lips on her skin and the tender way he held her. 

The way he would hold her in his arms for hours when they lay in his bed.

“What is done is done.  I cannot change it”, said Sansa finally.  She closed her eyes briefly. 

“And it is over.  I don’t want to upset Robb.  He’s getting married in three days and Jon is best man at the wedding.  I don’t want to ruin this for our brother.”

“Will you stop for a moment and think of yourself?  Robb and I meant what we said earlier.  Are you happy?  With Harry, with everything?  You sure don’t look like it”, Arya told her vehemently. 

“We aren’t getting at you, Sansa.  If you say you’re happy with him then fine.”

“What?  You’ll pretend to like him for my sake?”

“Then we’ll try to like him for your sake”, said Arya.  “But I don’t think you are happy.  Maybe it’s just Harry, maybe it’s not.  I don’t know if I’ve seen you really, truly happy since that summer.  It makes sense now.  You used to come here, didn’t you?  With him.  With Jon.”

Sansa nodded.  It seemed ludicrous to deny it at this point.  “Yes.”

“I won’t tell Robb”, Arya promised.  “Not now.  Not after the wedding.  Not ever.  Not if you don’t want me to.  You wouldn’t have kept it secret for four years if you did want him to know.”

“Thank you.”  Arya turned as if to leave, and then moved back to face Sansa again. 

“It wasn’t – you’re not embarrassed by him, are you?  I know he doesn’t come from an old family like Joffrey or Cley Cerwyn, and he isn’t a successful financial whizz like Harry, but Jon is a good guy.”

Sansa snorted.  She could feel tears prick the corners of her eyes.  “Do you really think that little of me?”

Her voice was small and wobbly, and she hated the idea of this being what Arya thought. 

Worse, she hated that it might be what Jon thought. 

“I just – Jon isn’t like the other guys you’ve been with.”

“No.  Jon’s different.”  Jon was _special_. 

“It never clicked in my mind before that Ygritte looks a little bit like you.”  Sansa winced at the mention of Jon’s ex-girlfriend. 

They had barely been together for two months when Ygritte came to stay with Jon for New Year.  Sansa had come home for Christmas break trying to build up the courage to tell Jon that she’d thought of him and little else in King’s Landing. 

It had been a knife to the heart to see him with Ygritte, and when she got back to King’s Landing Sansa gave in and accepted Joffrey’s offer of dinner and a movie. 

“Does she?”

“Your hair and eyes are the same colour”, Arya commented.  “Did you love him?”

“You can’t ask me that!” Sansa was aghast. 

_Yes.  I loved him.  If I’m honest, I still love him.  And I should have told him that at the time.  Maybe if I had, then things would’ve worked out differently.  But then, he never said it to me either_. 

“Okay.  We should get back.  The Westerlings will probably be here by now, and hopefully Theon.  I’m starving.”  She stepped away a bit. 

“Thank you.  For not saying anything.”  Sansa bit her lip.  “I know Jon’s your friend.  Please – don’t talk to him about it?  I don’t want you to end up in the middle of anything.  Trying to avoid Robb ending up in that position is maybe a huge part of the reason we didn’t work out.”

Arya nodded, and then paused.  She fixed Sansa with a look that spoke of something she couldn’t identify. 

“For what it’s worth?  I’ve never seen him as happy as he was that summer either.  At the time I thought it was because Robb wasn’t there.  Jon’s always been quiet, and I thought he was smiling and laughing more because he wasn’t in Robb’s shadow for once.  But he wasn’t like that because Robb _wasn’t_ there.  He was like that because you _were_.”

“Arya, I don’t – “

“He isn’t happy either.  He’s comfortable with his life and where he is.  But I only ever saw him truly happy that summer.  What kind of friend am I that I never noticed it?”

“We didn’t tell anyone.  Come on, we should get back before they send a search party.  Given the luck I’m having today, it’ll consist solely of Eleyna”, Sansa sighed. 

“If you change your mind and want to talk about it…….” Arya trailed off. 

“Thank you.” 

But Sansa felt this conversation had already gone on long enough. 

She followed Arya outside and back to their seats.  She saw that someone had ordered a few bottles of wine for the table and Harry had poured her a glass of white. 

She’d liked the idea of having red with her meal, but it was easy enough for her to have white instead.  Harry had poured himself a glass of the same. 

Sansa slipped into the seat next to Harry and tried to ignore both the presence of Jon and Eleyna Westerling, sat on Harry’s other side and engaging him in inane chit-chat. 

She lifted up the menu and pretended to read through it in the hope that nobody could hear the pounding in her chest. 

She should feel better that Arya – that someone in the _family_ – knew. 

Instead, it had left her hollow. 

The family’s reaction had been one of the reasons she and Jon hadn’t said anything.  And Arya hadn’t seemed to have any problem with it whatsoever.  Had she given up the best thing that had ever happened to her because of problems that only existed in her own mind, or Jon’s?

“Everyone ready to order?” Jeyne’s voice pulled Sansa out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see a young waitress looking at them expectantly. 

Sansa listened patiently, awaiting her turn, as everyone gave their order.  Her breath hitched and she had to work hard to calm the wobble in her throat when she heard Jon order his usual cheeseburger and a side of fries. 

She tried not to think of how different it would be if she was sat beside him, sharing them, as they had always done. 

She’d meant to order the cheeseburger she used to adore, but when it came to her turn Sansa couldn’t manage to get it out.  “Tyroshi-style omelette, please.  With, uh, with a side salad.”

Cheeseburgers and fries were her meal with Jon.  She couldn’t have that in _their_ place, not when she was there with Harry. 

Sansa put her menu down and didn’t take in the rest of what was said.  She’d promised herself in the airport bathroom that she wouldn’t think of Jon Snow this week. 

Sansa had lost count of how many times she’d already broken that promise.

She heard a commotion from Robb’s end of the table and looked up.  Jon was standing, phone in hand.  “Five minutes.  I have to – it’s pretty important.”

Sansa watched as Jon took a large gulp from his glass of red wine and went outside to make a call.  She hoped Lyanna was alright; she remembered Robb’s concern when she was diagnosed and how frantic he’d told her Jon was. 

She caught her brother’s eye and he indicated to her to come over.  With Harry still talking to Eleyna about his job, Sansa felt no need to excuse herself and went to sit in the warmth of the seat Jon had just vacated. 

She could pick up his scent from the light jacket he’d worn and hated herself a little for making it all about Jon when she was home for her brother’s wedding. 

“I’m sorry about before”, said Robb.  He glanced at Jeyne.  “Arya and I ambushed you.  We just – we care.  We want you to be happy, and – “

“Its fine”, Sansa assured him.  She fidgeted with the cutlery that had been set at Jon’s place. 

“I know you mean well.  You don’t want me to end up with another Joffrey.  But, Robb, you must understand that someday there will be a guy.  I’ll settle down and marry him.  You can’t try and scare away every man in Westeros.”

“I can try”, Robb pointed out.  “There is someone out there who deserves you, Sansa.  And when you introduce us, I’ll be happy for you.  You should have someone who is gentle, and brave, and strong.  And I don’t think that someone is Harry.  But, if he is the man you want to be with……”

“Then you’ll do as Arya says and try to like him for my sake?” Sansa recalled her sister’s words as Robb nodded.

“You should bring him to stay another time everything isn’t so hectic”, suggested Jeyne.  

“I will.”  But Sansa knew it wouldn’t work out that way. 

She picked up Jon’s scent again, but stronger.  She turned round and looked up at him.  “Sorry, I – I came to speak to Robb.  I should get back to my seat.”

“It’s no trouble”, said Jon softly.  Sansa looked up at his eyes and saw there was a sadness in them.  She hoped everything was alright.  He turned to Robb. 

“Told you I’d be quick.”

“I still say you work too hard”, Robb told him.  “What was it this time?”

“I e-mailed Mormont with a fundraising idea last night.  He had it approved by the Chief this morning”, said Jon.  “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“I should get back to my seat”, Sansa repeated. 

She was relieved that nothing seemed to be wrong, but worried that Robb was right.  He and her father had both said several times since she’d arrived that Jon was working too hard.  There seemed to be a great deal of truth in it. 

She went back to her seat, and saw Harry still in animated discussion.  She looked straight ahead and caught Bran’s eye.  Sansa smiled at her younger brother and asked him about his internship with Howland Reed.  Listening to him talk about wind power and solar energy panels occupied her until the food arrived. 

At which point, Sansa wished she’d found herself able to order the cheeseburger. 

Her omelette was fine, but it just wasn’t quite enough. 

It reminded her of Harry. 

When the meal finished, Robb suggested they all go back to Winterfell and continue the party there.  Everyone was merry – save Bran, who didn’t drink – and Sansa had herself turned a blind eye to the beer Theon had snuck Rickon. 

Most of them seemed interested in the idea, including Jeyne’s brothers.  Sansa hadn’t taken much time to get to know them but they appeared nice enough. 

And Harry had certainly been getting to know Eleyna.  Sansa wished she could find it in herself to care more about her boyfriend flirting with Jeyne’s sister. 

Buoyed by the three glasses of wine she’d had with her lunch, Sansa nodded her agreement to their plans.  She heard Robb tell Jon that he was coming with them, and he wasn’t taking _no_ for an answer. 

“Seriously.  No excuses.  If your dog needs out of the house, we’ll pick him up on the way over to mine.  Either way, you are coming with us.”

She could hear that chuckle Jon always let out when he knew he was beaten and sucked in her breath. 

At least with thirteen of them in the house, it was easier to avoid Jon without being conspicuous.  There were so many other people she could talk to. 

In the end, she found herself grabbing Theon when they were dividing up and getting into cabs.  Robb had called and asked for four – again advising one would need to be wheelchair friendly. 

“You should come with Harry and me”, Sansa told him.  She smiled at Theon, and sat in the back next to him.  Harry sat up front as usual and chatted away to the driver about his football team, the Gulltown Falcons. 

“So, do you have a date for the wedding?” Sansa asked Theon.  “Robb never mentioned.”

“Nope.  I’m hoping to find one there.  Weddings are……they remind a woman of her need to be paired up.  Hopefully one of them will think she needs to be paired up with me.  A date would just cramp my style.” 

Sansa snorted.  She remembered the first time she’d met Theon, when he’d come to stay with Robb during Easter break his freshman year at White Harbour. 

Theon had started flirting with her the moment they’d met.  Until Robb made it clear in no uncertain terms that Theon wasn’t to go anywhere near her.  He still flirted from time to time, but he never meant anything by it. 

He’d told her once that Robb had threatened to castrate him if he got too close. 

“I did have second thoughts when I found out even Jon has a date, but there will be plenty of single women there anyway.”  Sansa felt her heart sink. 

“Jon has a date?  I don’t think Robb mentioned that either”, Sansa said, aiming for a neutral tone. 

“My brother can be a bit oblivious sometimes.  An equally adorable and exasperating quality.  But I think Jeyne’s brothers are here alone.  The elder one just broke up with his girlfriend, didn’t he?  Rosamund Lannister.  I think she’s a distant cousin of Joffrey’s.”

“I don’t know about Jeyne’s brother, but Jon is going with some girl he knows from the hospital.  He mentioned it this morning when I ran into him at the gym”, said Theon. 

“I suppose if it comes to it, I could always hook up with Eleyna again.  We had a delicious weekend together when she came to stay with Jeyne for a couple of weeks last year.  Lots of fun.”

Sansa rolled her eyes, and tried to keep calm at the thought of Jon’s date.  Robb hadn’t mentioned one.  Sansa hadn’t asked.  She had just assumed that because he was single, he would be coming to the wedding alone. 

Did he like this girl?  Was it a friend date or was he looking for it to become something?

She tried to push it from her mind.  Sansa had come to Wintertown with Harry.  It took away any right she may or may not have had to know about Jon’s date. 

She would ask Robb about it.  Not today, though.  Not when Arya was sniffing around what they’d shared together that summer. 

And she certainly would not ask Robb about it in front of their sister.  Arya would know right away that Sansa still wanted Jon the moment she opened her mouth. 

“Ah, here we are”, Sansa smiled with relief as the cab pulled up outside Winterfell.  Sansa went to pay her share, but Harry opened his wallet and handed over the money. 

He tipped the driver generously and suggested he put money on the Falcons for their weekend match against the Sandstone Scorpions. 

Sansa noted that her mother’s car was back in the driveway, and figured her parents had returned from running whatever errands had needed doing and their visit to the hotel Uncle Edmure and Aunt Lysa were staying at. 

She was surprised they hadn’t shown up at the house, and wondered if her uncle at least had been put off by her mother. 

Sansa didn’t want to be the one to tell her mother that she didn’t need to walk on eggshells over the few dates Robb and Ros Frey had shared seven years before.  Not when her mother was wound up about everything already. 

She stepped inside the house and found their cab was the first to arrive. 

“How was your lunch?” her father asked.  He had a whiskey and soda in his hand, and looked tired. 

“Good.  And long.  By the time we all got drinks, ordered, ate our meal, debated on pudding – it took longer than I thought it would.” 

Their reservation had been for one thirty, and the chime of the clock told her it was now four.  Sansa didn’t think they would sit down to a proper dinner tonight and resolved to suggest simply ordering in pizza. 

“Robb suggested we all come back here”, said Theon.  “So, if you were looking for peace and quiet, he’s the one to blame for the lack of it in around five minutes time.”

“Note that he invited everyone here rather than over to his own place”, Sansa pointed out. 

Though she doubted everyone would have agreed to continue their party if it meant spending the remainder of the day around Sybell Westerling.

The next batch of people to come through the door were Robb, Jon, Bran and Rickon.  Sansa left them to gather in the family room and went through to the kitchen to look out wine and glasses.  Her mother was sitting at the table, working through a list. 

“Enjoy your lunch?”  Sansa nodded. 

“How were Aunt Lysa and Uncle Edmure?”  Sansa opened the cupboard and began to take out wine glasses. 

Her mother sighed.  “I invited Lysa over, but apparently Robin has a cold and she wants him to stay inside to make sure he’s fit for the wedding.  Uncle Jon tried to talk her into visiting but she was pretty adamant about it.  As for Edmure………he’s got himself silly about that Frey girl.  She might be Robb’s age, but she looks Arya’s.  I did suggest they come over at some point but he says he’s using this week as a trip away for them.”

“Robb’s wedding is an excuse for them to have a holiday?” 

“Pretty much.”  Her mother stood up and indicated the list she’d been writing out.  “I need your father to go to the grocery store tomorrow when we’re at this spa day Jeyne’s organized.”

Her mother downed the remnants of the red wine that were in her glass and handed it to Sansa.  She filled it up for her mother, and then took the clean glasses through to the family room on a tray. 

Sansa ignored the conversation going on around her and set them out on the coffee table.  In the distance, she could hear a car door close. 

“Do you need a hand with anything?” Jon’s voice cut through her. 

“No.  Thank you, but its fine.  You should sit down.  I just need to get the wine through.”

“Yeah, sit down”, Robb agreed.  “Rickon can help her if she needs anything – about time he contributed.”

“Hey!” Rickon got defensive.  “I’ve contributed lots……..”

Sansa walked out of that argument and into the pantry to find the red wine.  There was still some left over from the barbeque, and friends and neighbours had dropped by over the last day or so to offer their congratulations and leave some gifts. 

They’d also brought wine and Sansa decided now was as good a time as any to drink it. 

She took two bottles of white out of the fridge and replaced them with more.  There were fifteen of them including her parents and most would take wine.  If anyone wanted beer, Arya could see to that.

Sansa grabbed a glass and poured herself some white – now she’d started off on that, she didn’t want to switch – and sat down on the floor, curling up next to where Harry sat. 

He looked at her expectantly, and she handed over the glass of wine she’d poured herself, before fetching another. 

She ignored the look she knew Robb was giving her, and he turned back towards Jon. 

“Well, I think that’s a really good idea.  It should make quite a bit to money.  I’ll get us some tickets for it”, her brother said. 

“What’s this?” her father asked. 

Robb took some wine for himself and addressed their father.  “Jon’s come up with a fundraising scheme for the hospital.  A raffle to decide who picks a name for their new wing.”

“Oh?” her father replied. 

“It’s quite simple”, said Jon.  But Sansa could see from the look on his face how excited he was by it.

“We sell raffle tickets – a dragon a time to enter – and whomever has the winning ticket gets to name the new Oncology wing.  We need to raise half a million for it, and I thought that might be a fun and exciting way to get everyone involved.  It wouldn’t cost much for each person buying a ticket, but it could potentially raise quite a lot.  Mormont got it signed off by the Board Chief, Aemon Targaryen, today.

That seemed to be what the lunchtime phone call had been about.

“I’ll stump up for some tickets myself when you’re selling them”, her father promised. 

“Why would someone want to name a hospital wing?” Harry asked her in a low voice.  Sansa gave him a severe look. 

“It isn’t so much about that as it is raising money to pay for the wing itself”, she insisted.  And she didn’t want to go on in Jon’s hearing about why the cause was so important to him. 

He had enough to worry about without her dredging up his mother’s recent illness again. 

“This is the problem with state healthcare”, Harry told her.  “If it was all down to private companies then they would make enough profits for such things.”

“What?!” Arya had obviously heard him.  “So you think healthcare should just be for those who can afford it?!”

Sansa winced.  When her sister got into a political debate, it could turn very ugly very quickly.  And _debate_ was really just a nice term for _argument_. 

“If people worked hard enough, they’d earn the money they needed to pay for it”, Harry told her.  He said it very patiently in a tone Sansa knew her sister would interpret as condescending. 

“And what about those who are too ill to work?” Jon put in.  “Every day I come across cases of people like that.  Should they just be left on the side line to die?”

“I’m sure there are ample charitable organizations to deal with such people”, said Harry dismissively.  Sansa decided to step in before a full-scale row broke out. 

“Let’s not talk politics.  Nobody ever agrees and we all end up shouting at one another.  Jeyne, which hotel is it you’ve organized our spa day at tomorrow?” 

She hoped the change of subject would bring an end to the matter and seemed to find an ally in Jeyne. 

“Wolfswood Wonderland.  They’ve just opened a new spa there, and one of the women I work with recommended it.  She spent a weekend there for her fiftieth birthday recently and said it was amazing.  They have a Jacuzzi, treatments and massages, facials……They even provide a champagne lunch on the package I chose for us.  We’ll have a relaxing day before the rehearsal dinner on Friday.” 

Jeyne beamed, and Sansa started to ask questions on the sort of treatments offered. 

She could do with a day at a spa.  In truth, she could do with a week there. 

Sansa got herself another glass of wine and topped up Harry’s.  She noticed they were running low on red and went through to the pantry to get more.  Arya followed her in, searching for beer. 

“We should just call in a pizza order for dinner later”, she said to her sister, voicing her thoughts from earlier. 

“It’ll save mum from cooking and I don’t know any of us are really hungry enough to have more than a couple of slices each.”

Arya snorted.  “Speak for yourself.  I could go an entire meat feast myself right now.  I’m always the same after a night out.”

“I’d forgotten.”

“Well, if you came home for a visit more often……” Arya wheedled.  Sansa closed her eyes.

“Don’t.  I know I need to come home more often.  Just – just don’t, okay?”

Arya nodded, and looked at her inquisitively.  “Sansa?  No bullshitting.  Are you alright?”

“Alright?” Sansa mumbled.  “What does that even mean?  I’m fine, Arya.  I’ll be fine.”

What else could she say? That seeing Jon again had only brought back the feelings she mostly managed to keep at bay when she was away from Wintertown?  That he had a date for the wedding and it killed her how jealous that made her feel? 

Even if she did have no right to him. 

She missed her family and her home, and she wasn’t sure what kind of a future she and Harry had.  She wasn’t sure if they had one at all.

“I’m fine”, she repeated.  “I should get this wine back through.  They’ll be shouting for it in a minute.”

“Okay.  But you can speak to me if you want to.  About what happened four years ago.  About what you want.”

“Thank you.”  Sansa patted her sister on the shoulder and took another two bottles of red through to the family room. 

She handed one to her mother, who she deemed most in need of a top-up, and went to sit back down again. 

Sansa saw Jon glance at her from across the room and immediately looked away.  She didn’t want to meet his gaze.  She didn’t want to try and figure out what was going on behind those beautiful grey eyes of his.  She’d never been able to, before.

“What about me tomorrow?” Harry asked her.  Sansa looked up.

“Hmmm?”

“What am I going to do while you’re at the spa all day?” he pouted. 

“You could spend time with my brothers”, Sansa suggested.  “If you wanted to go to a gym or for a run, I’m sure one of them could go with you.  I don’t know.  You can do whatever you like.”

Harry ran his fingers through her hair and it sent chills up Sansa’s spine as she thought of Jon doing the same thing.  All of a sudden it was too much, being in the same room as both him and Harry. 

Sansa excused herself and took her glass of wine out to the back patio area. 

She sat down on the steps there as she had done the night of the barbeque and revelled in the peace and quiet.  All she could hear was birdsong and the sound of distant traffic.  No human distractions. 

Sansa sipped her wine and tried to understand what it was she wanted to do now and for the rest of her life. 

Did she want to keep working as a PA, either for Royce or someone else?  Or did she want to put her Psychology degree to practical use and train in some sort of professional capacity? 

Did she want to stay in Gulltown or move back to Wintertown? 

And where did Harry Hardyng and Jon Snow fit into this equation?

Sansa thought back to the moment she’d arrived on Monday and how pleased she was to be home.  She thought of how strong she’d believed herself. 

How was it that four years on, Jon Snow seemed to permeate every inch of her being simply by being there?

She’d never even told him that she was in love with him.  He’d never said those words himself either.  They were always implied, though, in his touch and his tone.  In the way he was around her, treating Sansa as if she meant the world to him. 

But he never said it, and in the end nor had she. 

Sansa recalled the dream she’d had the night before.  That first afternoon they’d spent together.  Maybe their summer together was only ever meant to be a memory she would cherish.  But it had all felt so real at the time. 

That afternoon and every other they’d spent in his bed……..he had always treated her like a goddess. 

And she’d, quite frankly, never had any other man pleasure her the way Jon did. 

With Jon, sex had never felt like a chore.  It had never been something she had to get through before she went to sleep.  It felt like their two bodies were melding together.  And she’d never felt that way with anyone else.

She felt a tear trickle down the side of her face at the thought of the mess her life had turned into.  Everything seemed so much more complicated now she was here in Wintertown.  It hadn’t been the easy time she’d hoped for.

There was a noise behind Sansa, and she turned around to see her mother walking towards her.  She smiled softly and wiped evidence of the tear from her cheek.  She didn’t want to answer the questions it would lead to. 

And she didn’t want to worry her mother.

Sansa sipped her wine and tried to compose herself. 

“Nice and quiet out here”, her mother commented. 

“It is”, Sansa agreed.  Her mother sat down next to her on the steps. 

“I wanted to make sure you were alright.”  Gods, what had Arya said?  “Jon thought you might be upset.  He said you’d come out here.”

“Oh, I just wanted some quiet”, Sansa shrugged.  “It was getting pretty noisy in there.  And I wanted to get out before Arya and Harry started fighting over something stupid again.  Escape the madness.  I’ve got used to peace and quiet.  Far too used to it, I think.”

Her mother laughed. 

“You know what, I think I’m going to go upstairs and have a bath.  Soak in the water for an hour with music and candles.”

“Oh, that sounds like heaven.  I quite like the sound of that myself.  Head on up the back stairs, sweetheart.  I won’t tell anyone unless they ask where you’ve gone.”

“Thanks.”  Sansa put down her glass of wine, and stood up.  She brushed out her dress, and then walked back to the door. 

“Oh, about dinner?  Just order a load of pizzas.  No cooking and no washing up.”

“Will do.”

Sansa went up the back stairs to her en-suite, grabbing a towel and her iPod on the way.  She ran a hot, deep bubble bath and filled it with the salts and scents her mother always kept in the bathroom for her visits home. 

When it was ready, she stripped off and sunk into the water. 

Music blared from her iPod and Sansa lay back, resting her head on the back of the bath. 

She thought of Jon, who had sent her mother outside after her to check everything was alright.  She thought of Harry, who hadn’t thought to come and see how she was.  She thought of how she really, really shouldn’t be comparing the two men. 

It wasn’t fair on either of them, and it wasn’t fair on her.

Relieved that she’d brought in her iPod in with her, Sansa felt her body wracked by huge, great sobs.  Tears made their way down her cheeks unchecked as she closed her eyes and thought of Jon. 

She was ruining her make-up, but Sansa was past caring. 


	4. Day Four - Jon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks for the lovely response to this fic! We are back with Jon today, with guest appearances from Sam, Gilly and Ghost - and a lesson in how things can quickly unravel when you speak in the wrong tense.......

Jon had not long returned from a run with Ghost when Jeyne dropped Robb off at his house.  She had a spa day planned with her mother, Catelyn and the bridesmaids, and had pleaded with Jon over lunch the previous day to entertain Robb in her absence. 

Jon had interpreted that to mean Robb needed to get out of the house for a while.

He’d managed a quick shower and came downstairs to Robb knocking on the front door. 

“Have fun!” he shouted to Jeyne.  He waved at her and stood aside to let Robb into the house.  Ghost immediately jumped up on Robb.  He’d always been good at recognizing people. 

“I would like to be a fly on the wall at their spa”, Robb mused.  “Can you imagine Arya having to spend the day with Jeyne’s mother and sister and keeping her mouth shut?”

Jon snorted.  “No, but I’d pay good money to see her try.  I’m sure Sansa and your mother will manage to keep Arya in check.  Do you want a coffee?”

“Please”, Robb nodded.  “I told dad we’d swing by Winterfell this afternoon.”

“We should walk over”, Jon suggested.  “Take Ghost with us.”

Jon walked through to the kitchen and filled the kettle.  He thought about asking how Sansa was.  She had taken herself out of the family room quietly the day before, not long after Arya and Harry seemed about ready to go at each other over healthcare provision. 

He had got up to get himself another glass of wine and muttered to Catelyn that perhaps someone should go and see if she was alright. 

Jon knew he couldn’t go himself.  It would raise too many questions, and in any case he doubted she’d talk to him.  She would talk to Catelyn, however, if something had upset her badly. 

“What time did you all stay over until yesterday?” Jon settled on.  If something important had happened, Robb would tell him anyway. 

“Around eight?  We got pizza in after you and Theon left and went after we’d eaten.  Sansa finally reappeared just before the food did.  Who takes a bath in the middle of the afternoon?”

“Someone who wanted to escape the madness that was your house yesterday afternoon?” Jon suggested.  He poured them a cup of coffee each and handed one to Robb. 

“You were saying the other day that you’d forgotten how manic a full house can be.  Maybe Sansa has too.  She just lives with one roommate in Gulltown, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah.”  The roommate’s name was Mya, Jon knew.  He’d seen her in pictures Sansa had posted on Facebook and Instagram. 

Jon rarely bothered with social media, but he’d seen it as a good way of keeping up with Sansa without making Robb suspicious by constantly asking questions.  He hated himself for it, but it had become one of the few ways he could keep in touch with her. 

They didn’t speak on the phone or text. 

And when she was home, they didn’t speak in person either.  Not really.  

It seemed to Jon like they had never said the important things they should have and now it prevented them from going beyond common pleasantries. 

But sometimes, when he’d had a bad day, or when his mother had been at her worst, he’d logged onto Facebook and seen Sansa’s update on a new piece of artwork she’d bought for her apartment or a picture from someone’s birthday party. 

Just seeing her smile had made everything better. 

Jon didn’t inspect his behaviour too closely.  If he did, he worried it might resemble that of a creepy stalker.

Jon took in a deep breath.  “Speaking of Sansa, you should get Jeyne to say something to her sister.”

“About what?  Eleyna and Sansa seem to get on well enough”, said Robb.  “Much better than Arya does.”

“Sansa could get on with anyone”, sighed Jon. 

“Don’t you think?  No, I meant that even I – one of the most oblivious people on the planet – saw that Eleyna spent most of yesterday’s lunch flirting with Harry.  I know you’re not a fan of the guy, but he is with Sansa.  They’re serious enough that she’s brought him home for your wedding.  It isn’t fair on her for him to behave like that.  And Eleyna is encouraging it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Robb set his coffee down on the counter. 

“Arya and I tried to talk to her about him yesterday.  He just assumes that she’ll do whatever he asks and run around after him.  She even made him toast because he couldn’t be bothered to do it himself.  Urgh.  Gendry’s a good guy.  I have no problem with Gendry.  He puts up with Arya, so fair play to him.  But Harry?  I can’t find any redeeming quality in him beyond the fact that he’s not as bad as Joffrey.”

“That’s setting the bar pretty low”, said Jon.  He wasn’t a violent person, but if he had been then Joffrey Baratheon was someone he’d like to pummel into the dirt until he was unconscious and unrecognizable. 

Sansa deserved so much better than a man who did nothing but tell her where she was going wrong.

Jon had never understood it.  To him, Sansa was as close to perfect as it was humanly possible to be. 

“I don’t think she’s happy.”  Robb put his head in his hands. 

“I don’t know what to do.  I don’t want to interfere too much.  It’ll just push her away and make things worse.  But I don’t want her to fall into a future with someone who is less than she deserves.”

“Tough call.”  Jon wondered sometimes, when Robb went on about his dislike towards Sansa’s boyfriends, what he would say if he knew about that summer. 

If Jon turned to him and said,  _what about me_?  Am I worthy of Sansa?  Am I good enough? 

Jon didn’t think he was.  Really, no one was good enough for Sansa. 

But Jon would like to try and deserve her. 

He should have said something four years ago.  He should have told her he loved her and never wanted to let her go.  He should have told her that he would work each and every day to try and be worthy of her and her love. 

He hadn’t, though.  And now it was most likely too late. 

“If she isn’t happy, I doubt she’ll stay with him forever”, said Jon hopefully. 

Robb nodded.  “I guess.  Sorry.  I shouldn’t be bothering you with my family stuff.”

“Not a problem.”  Jon figured he owed Robb on that score, though.  When his mother had been diagnosed and gone through treatment, Jon had been a bit of a mess. 

He’d had to be strong in front of his mother because that was what she’d needed at the time, and so it was Robb that Jon had vented to about how scared he was the chemotherapy might not work.

“But I would say something to Eleyna.  She shouldn’t make Sansa look like a fool.  I heard her simpering away when we were waiting for the cabs yesterday.  She was going on about how successful and smart he was, and Harry was lapping it up.  Yuck.”

“Yuck is the word of the day as far as Harry is concerned”, Robb agreed.  “I meant to ask about Friday night – are you and Theon wanting to stay over at Winterfell?  I’m sure we’ll be able to squeeze you in somewhere.”

“I’ll just get a cab over on Saturday morning”, said Jon.  “I’ll have a shower here and then swing by.  It’ll be easier that way.  Logistically, I mean.  I won’t have to battle half a dozen Starks just to get a wash.”

Yeah, logistics.  That was why he didn’t want to spend the night in the same house as Sansa.  He couldn’t do it.  He knew he couldn’t.  Not knowing she was sleeping in her room with Harry. 

Jon knew he would lie awake all night, haunted by the thought of Harry holding her instead of him.  They’d never had a night together, only afternoons. 

But Jon knew the soft sounds Sansa made when she slept.  And he missed them. 

He missed all of her. 

“Good idea.  I kind of wish Arya was staying over at mine on Friday.  Then Jeyne would be the one having to deal with her first thing on Saturday morning.”  Jon chuckled. 

Arya was a much easier person to be around once she’d had her caffeine fix. 

“Jeyne’s mother has finished the seating charts for the rehearsal dinner”, said Robb.  “I asked her to put Alys with Gendry and Harry.  Given your mother is her boss, I figured it might be an idea to seat them separately?  I didn’t want to make things awkward for either of them.”

“Thank you.”  Jon smiled.  “I know you don’t approve of me bringing her, but Alys is a good friend.  And if nothing else, it’ll stop people trying to fix me up with someone.  You need to stop offering to do that too.  I’ll meet someone in my own good time.”

_Preferably once I’ve somehow gotten over your sister._

Jon turned on the news, keeping the volume low while his mother slept.  He knew she wouldn’t stay in bed too long; she’d just come off her last night shift and tended to get up early to try and normalize her sleeping pattern.

She came downstairs around midday, when Jon was fixing sandwiches for lunch, and grinned widely at Robb. 

“Two more days to go.  You ready to run yet?” she teased. 

“Hey, Ms. S.  Nope, no running away from me.  Not even for you.”  His mother snorted at that. 

“Not even for me, eh?  What do you think of that, Jon?”

“I think that Robb and Jeyne are going to be just fine”, he said diplomatically.  “You want a sandwich?”

His mother shook her head.  “No.  I think I’ll make myself some eggs and bacon.”

Robb groaned.  “Why couldn’t you have offered me that?”

“I’ll make some for the groom as well.  You want any, Jon?”  Jon shook his head.  He’d eaten far too much the day before.  And drunk too much.  Thankfully his morning run had blown away the cobwebs. 

“I’ve bought a nice new dress for your wedding, Robb Stark, and as groom it is your duty to make sure my son dances with me in it.”

“Your son would like to remind you that dancing with him may lead to you requiring medical attention”, Jon pointed out.  His mother laughed. 

“Poor boy, inheriting my coordination.  I think my feet will survive one dance with the best man.”  She turned the eggs over, and Jon nodded. 

He was just pleased to see her well enough to do these things again.  Jon wasn’t a mummy’s boy.  He never had been.  But her illness had scared Jon, and he knew how close he’d been to losing her. 

“I won’t be in tonight.  I’ll – “

“Be round at Sam’s watching the football the same as you do every other Thursday night?”  Jon grinned. 

“I’m obviously becoming a bit too predictable.”

“Boring”, said Robb.  “I think the word you’re looking for is boring.”

“Thank you”, replied Jon.  He rolled his eyes.  “I’ll probably have Ghost with me, so you’ll have the house to yourself.  You can watch those awful make-over shows I hate.”

“They aren’t awful, sweetheart.  You just have no taste.  That’s why you spend all your time watching those documentaries on goodness knows what.  You want your bacon and eggs on a sandwich or a roll, Robb?”

“A sandwich is fine, thanks.”

Jon grabbed a couple of slices of bread and buttered them quickly.  He handed the plate over to his mother.  “We’re going to head over to Winterfell in a bit.  Do you need me to pick anything up for you while I’m out?”

“No, I think I’m fine”, his mother told him through a mouthful of bacon and egg.  “Unless you want to treat your poor mother to a winning lottery ticket.”

“A lottery ticket I can buy you.  A winning ticket I cannot guarantee.”

“Some son you are, then.”

“I try my best”, Jon grinned. 

Jon and Robb set out for Winterfell not long after.  They had barely reached the end of the road when Robb started fidgeting. 

“What?” Jon asked.

“I had a talk with my dad the other day.  It was pretty heavy duty”, sighed Robb.  Jon furrowed his brow.  Ned had never really been one to talk about deep, existential stuff.  Bran, yes.  Ned, no. 

“Oh?”  They stopped at a set off traffic lights and Jon turned to look at Robb. 

“Yeah.  One of those big father/son talks.  Sorry.”  Robb winced, but Jon shrugged. 

It wasn’t Robb’s fault that his father had been notably absent from his life.  As his mother had said more than once, they enjoyed the time they had together and she got a child out of it.  They never would have worked out long-term and she preferred not being with him at all to being with him and unhappy. 

“Don’t worry about it”, said Jon.  They crossed the road.  “What did Ned have to say?”

“Just – so, we had the horrifically awkward sex talk when I was around thirteen.  Pretty much like the one we got at school.  What goes where and so on, with the added bonus on showing women respect.”

“That sounds like Ned”, commented Jon. 

His mother being a nurse had some advantages.  Her sex talk had essentially been an anatomy lesson and a reminder that birth control pills only prevented pregnancy.  She’d bought Jon condoms when he got his first serious girlfriend at seventeen, and told him that he’d have to buy any further packs himself.

“Yeah.  So, this one was more about what it means to have a wife.  And how what you do reflects on her.  He said that Jeyne might not be the first woman I’ve been with, but she should be the last.”

“You wouldn’t cheat on Jeyne”, said Jon confidently.  He knew Robb as well as he did anyone else in the world, and his best friend wasn’t that kind of person.  Robb didn’t know how to treat people badly – unless, like Joffrey, they had hurt his family. 

Then uber-protective Robb emerged. 

“I know.  I think he meant that marriage should be a sort of one-off, for life, type of thing.  Like him and mum.  Anyway, it was weird.  Dad isn’t really a share your feelings type.”

“So it wound up being more awkward than anything?” Robb nodded.  “You looking forward to your fortnight in Dorne?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe”, sighed Robb.  “Two whole weeks of nothing.  The private hotel resort place we’ve booked in Sunspear has its own beach.  There are eight swimming pools, a spa, drinks all included…….just peace and quiet.  And lots of, you know.”

“Celebrating being married?” Jon suggested.

“Yeah.  That’s a pretty good way of putting it.  And then, when we come back, my future in-laws will have gone back to the Westerlands.  It’ll just be me, Jeyne and Grey Wind.  Bliss.”  Jon chuckled. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take Grey Wind while you’re away?  There isn’t much difference between one dog and two, and they get along well enough.” 

Dogs could be territorial, but Ghost and Grey Wind had always been as friendly as he and Robb. 

“Nah, you’re alright.  I’ve got Arya and Gendry house-sitting for us.  My sister will eat me out of house and home, but she’ll look after Grey Wind well enough”, said Robb. 

“It’ll give them a trial run living together.  Gendry told me the other day that they’ve been thinking about it for a while, and with Arya just about finished at Wintertown Uni, it seems like a matter of time.”

“Arya would elope, I think”, Jon mused aloud as they turned the corner to the street Winterfell stood on. 

“She’s probably the only one of you who would brave your mother’s wrath; just go off for a few days and come back married.  Well, Rickon is maybe the type to do that.  I guess.”

“Arya doesn’t follow anyone’s rules.  I like that about her.”  Robb smiled. 

They arrived at Winterfell at the same time as a very harassed looking Ned.  He got out of his car, and pointed at the back seat. 

“Give me a hand in with the shopping, boys?  I’m not sure if Catelyn realizes the rehearsal dinner and wedding are catered.  Judging by the amount of food and drink she had me buy at the grocery store, I think not.”

Robb chuckled, and Jon followed him to the car where Ned had bags piled high on the back seat. 

“There’s wine in the boot”, Ned added.  “Three cases of red and the same of white.  Plus two dozen bottles of beer Arya felt it was essential to add to the list.  And spirits.  I thought this was meant to be a wedding, not a week-long party.”

“Well, I’m sure there won’t be any waste”, said Jon.  He took Ghost’s lead off and let the Labrador bound towards the front door, before grabbing a couple of bags.

 Jon took them through to the kitchen and set them on the counter.  It took the three of them four trips to get everything inside.

“Your mother gets a day at a spa, and I get a list of errands”, Ned grumbled to Robb. 

“She’s taking you to the Riverlands for a weekend soon”, Robb pointed out to his father.  Jon noted, however, that Robb did so while starting to unpack the shopping. 

“You decide where to go yet?”

“There’s a spa hotel near the God’s Eye she’s got her eye on.  It has a golf course with it”, said Ned hopefully.  Robb laughed at his father.  “Do you have any holidays planned for the summer, Jon?”

“Nope.”  He bent down and patted a whining Ghost.  Jon gave him a couple of the treats he’d brought with him.  “There we are, boy.”

“When was the last time you took a holiday?” Robb asked him.  Jon shrugged.  In all honesty, he wasn’t sure he could remember. 

Two years had passed since they had finished at White Harbour, and Jon had moved back to Wintertown to care for his mother.  He’d been accepted on the Law program at White Harbour but declined after her cancer diagnosis.  There hadn’t been an opportunity for a holiday since. 

“And the weekend away in White Harbour for my bachelor party doesn’t count!”

“Uhm.  Maybe that music festival over on Pyke?  The one Theon dragged us to, when we had to share that tiny tent so he could hook up with that girl.  And her best friend”, said Jon. 

“Jon, that was three years ago!”  Jon nodded, and figured it would have been.  It was probably the worst holiday he’d ever been on. 

It rained the entire time they were there, and Jon spent a week in bed with ‘flu after they got back.  Maybe that was another reason he hadn’t been on holiday since?

“You need a holiday.  A proper holiday.  One where Mormont doesn’t ring you just because he knows you’ll answer and save him time.  One where you actually switch off.”

“I’ll get round to it”, Jon shrugged.  There were a lot of things he meant to get round to, like re-applying to Law School. 

He could’ve deferred instead of declined that place at White Harbour, but he hadn’t known how long his mother would need him at home for.  It was too late to start the next term.  Applying to Wintertown University and starting after New Year was feasible, though. 

Jon just didn’t want to mention it until he’d applied and been accepted.  There was no point in talking to anyone about it until things were certain.  That said, he would need to speak to Mormont about a reference and find out if switching to part-time was something they could accommodate. 

If not, Jon could always go back to working security. 

He meant to continue working on getting the Oncology wing sorted, though, regardless of what happened.  He felt he owed it to the staff at Wintertown General who had treated his mother, and to those who were going through the same thing she had.

“The place is quiet”, said Robb.  “Where is everyone?  Rickon run off to hide again?”

Ned snorted.  “No, your mother caught him before he could escape this morning.  I dropped him and Harry off at the gym on my way to the store.  Harry said he wanted to lift weights, and I think Rickon likes one of the girls who works at the pool.  He’s very specific about when he goes, anyway.”

“I can’t remember the last time I went to the gym”, signed Robb. 

“I went yesterday morning, bumped into Theon there”, said Jon.  “Is Bran not about?”

“Yes, I am”, he answered.  Bran wheeled himself into the room.  “I was running through some programming on my laptop, for a class I want to take next semester.  Rickon not back yet?”

“Nope”, said Robb.  Bran snorted.

“Harry asked me if I wanted to go with them.”

“To the gym?” Ned seemed surprised, but Bran nodded. 

“He said he’d happily sacrifice some of his lifting time to help me onto some of the machines.  I had to explain to him that I go to PT twice a week and work out there.  I’m not sure he understood much of what I was talking about.”

“Sounds about right”, said Robb. 

“Leave Harry alone”, Ned told them.  “I know you don’t think that much of him, Robb, but your sister seems to care for him.  For her sake just leave it.  Arya’s just as bad – if not worse.”

“Yeah.  Double H”, Bran commented. 

“You don’t think Sansa deserves better than Harry?” asked Robb. 

“I think your sister deserves someone who cares for her.  Someone who looks after her and treats her well”, said Ned.  “If Harry does those things, then it is enough for me.  Now, change of subject.  Jon – you see that football match last week?”

“I did”, Jon grinned.  He and Ned had always discussed football.  Usually when watching Robb play at school. 

“I’m going round to Sam’s to watch the derby against Last Hearth Giants tonight.  Will you manage to see it here?”

“Probably not”, Ned told him.  “We’ve got – what is it tonight?”

“Mum and Sansa said something about writing out the place cards for the rehearsal dinner and the reception”, said Robb.  “Our writing isn’t neat enough, but they need us to help them go through their list of names.”

“Sounds enthralling”, Bran laughed. 

“Don’t know what you’re laughing at – you’ll be laying them out neatly to dry.  They’re using some sort of expensive ink”, his father told him. 

“You do realize I could set something up on a fancy font on my laptop?” Bran pointed out.  Ned snorted and went over to pour them a whiskey each. 

“Do you honestly think your mother wants something done on a computer?  No.  Everything has to be hand-written and home-made.”

“It could be worse”, Robb told him.  “Jeyne’s mother had them all doing table decorations the other day.”

Jon accepted the whiskey Ned handed him.  The three of them were on their second, while Bran sipped away on a coke, when everyone seemed to arrive at once. 

Ned had apparently instructed Harry and Rickon to get a cab back from the gym, and Catelyn, Sansa and Arya had taken one back from their spa. 

“That was amazing”, Catelyn sighed when she joined them in the kitchen. 

Jon never brought Ghost into any other room, save Robb’s.  He knew how clean Catelyn liked her house to look.  She sank into a seat at the table while Sansa and Arya wandered in behind her. 

Jon tried not to look at Sansa, and instead sought Arya’s reaction.  She seemed relieved, and Jon wondered if she’d had a run-in with Jeyne’s mother over something. 

“Did you get the beer I asked for?” Ned nodded. 

“Get your mother a glass of wine while you’re at it.  And one for your sister.”  Arya wandered off in the direction of the pantry and Harry walked up beside Sansa. 

“That was one hell of a workout”, he sighed. 

Ghost had been napping at Jon’s feet, but the commotion appeared to have woken him up and he made a beeline for Sansa.  He woofed happily and jumped up on her legs. 

Sansa seemed pleased by the attention.  Harry did not. 

“Down!” Harry shouted at Ghost.  Jon was secretly pleased by the bark his dog directed at Harry.  Sansa, meanwhile, admonished Harry for shouting at Ghost, whom she described as a poor, innocent dog. 

Jon watched as she played with Ghost. 

“Hello, boy.  Who’s a good doggie?”  Ghost turned over on his back, and allowed Sansa to rub his belly as she used to. 

“There we are.  You like that, don’t you?  Yes, you do.”

Ghost had always liked Sansa.  Jon could remember countless afternoons when he’d behaved for Sansa and not him.  He supposed Ghost remembered her scent and knew her for a friend. 

He loved the sound of Sansa’s laugh as she played with Ghost.  He looked at her smile, and saw it was the widest it’d been since she’d come home on Monday.  Maybe she didn’t miss him, but Sansa had clearly missed Ghost. 

Ghost rolled back over and licked Sansa’s hand affectionately. 

“Watch that!” Harry wasn’t impressed.  “That mutt could bite you.”

“Don’t call him that.  Ghost won’t hurt me, will you boy?  No, you know I’m a friend.”  Jon watched with a pang of envy as Sansa buried her face in Ghost’s fur. 

He wished she would embrace him like that, but knew he had no right to ask.  He didn’t even have a right to wish it, not really. 

Not when it was mostly his fault they weren’t together anymore. 

If Jon could go back in time to any point in his life and do things differently, it would be the last afternoon he and Sansa had spent together. 

_Jon looked over at where his mobile phone sat on the bedside cabinet, taunting him.  He knew the alarm would go off soon and bring his afternoon with Sansa to an end._

_She was sleeping, as she often did after they’d finished, and Jon was quietly taking in the beautiful sounds Sansa made._

_He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her shoulder, before murmuring three words into her beautiful, alabaster skin._   I love you. 

_Jon wasn’t quite sure how they’d ended up here.  It had started off that day outside the drugstore, when he’d asked her to go to lunch.  He’d enjoyed the time they spent together and kept asking her to spend the afternoon with him._

_That day at Stony Shore, which had always been his quiet place – the place he went to think – and where he’d never taken anyone……that day, she had been beautiful._

_She had been the sun brought to life and Jon couldn’t stop himself from kissing her.  He supposed it had become inevitable that they would end up in bed together._

_Jon still couldn’t believe Sansa was willing to give herself to him like that._

_Gods, but he could spend all day every day tasting Sansa._

_It was like tasting the nectar of the gods.  Or what Jon imagined that would taste like.  And there was this beautiful little gathering of freckles on her breast that he had mapped out with his tongue._

_But most of all, Jon liked the post-coital part of their afternoons, when Sansa told him about her hopes and dreams._

_She told him little stories of nights out she and Margaery had shared at KLU, and the classes she hoped to take next semester._

_She told him about the novel she was reading and the new TV show she liked on Netflix._

_She told him everything and nothing._

_It was in those moments that Jon felt truly connected to Sansa and he didn’t want to let go.  He loved their little bubble – one only Ghost was allowed into.  His dog adored Sansa, who spoiled him constantly and rubbed his belly._

_Jon kissed her shoulder again, and tightened his hold on her.  Sansa was playing the little spoon and Jon never wanted to let her go.  He knew he had to; that the summer was coming to an end._

_But he also knew he wanted to hold onto Sansa forever.  Even if he wasn’t good enough for her._

I love you _, he murmured into her skin again._   I love you. 

_Sansa began to stir.  She turned round and gazed up at Jon, looking him in the eye, and smiled.  Jon loved her smile.  He loved making her smile._

_“Hey.  You’re awake.”_

_“How long was I out?” Sansa yawned._

_“Not long.” Jon pulled her lips to his and kissed Sansa softly.  “You’re cute when you sleep, did I ever tell you that?  You make the loveliest wuffing noise when you’re breathing.”_

_Sansa stuck her tongue out, and Jon latched onto it.  He sucked it softly and pulled Sansa round and on top of him.  She straddled him, and Jon could feel himself growing hard again._

_Fuck the limited time they had together._

_Jon reached a hand up and swiped his fingers over Sansa’s right nipple.  He could feel her hips grinding into him and moaned.  She could have him do anything and everything she wanted.  All she needed to do was ask._

_Jon wasn’t sure she realized just how much power she had over him._

_“Turn around”, he rasped.  Sansa raised an eyebrow. “Turn around and sit on my face.  I want to taste you again.”_

_Sansa smiled.  She seemed to like this just as much as he did.  Jon had yet – in his very limited experience, admittedly – to find a woman who didn’t, but Sansa had never complained when he fucked her with his tongue._

_And he never failed to bring her off this way._

_He licked his way up and down her slit and felt himself harden further at the whimpering sounds she made.  Sansa was wet, and Jon was determined to make her even more so._

_He found her nub and sucked at it, teasing it with his tongue over and over again until he felt her spasm around him and peak.  He pulled back a little, going slower to bring her down._

_When Jon felt her ready to go properly again, he wrote his name on her cunt with his tongue; he wrote_  I love you.   _He wrote that again and again and again._

_He’d never be able to say it aloud, but he could write it on Sansa._  

_He brought her off a second time and a third, pushing his tongue inside her until she was a sopping, sobbing mess, moaning his name and appealing to every deity she could.  Jon turned her round after the third time._

_He patted her ass lightly.  “I want you to ride me.”_

_Jon grabbed another condom from his top drawer, and quickly unwrapped it.  He pulled it over his cock and guided himself inside Sansa.  He felt her push her hips towards him, and he grabbed her hands._

_Jon threaded their fingers and called her name, panting._

_“Sansa…..SANSA…….Oh, fuck…..Sansa.”  She was so wet and slick and he felt at home inside her._

_If home could be a person rather than a place, then Jon Snow was starting to feel as if his was Sansa Stark._

_Jon could feel himself getting close and tried to hold onto the edge, thinking of anything and everything he could to keep going._

_He didn’t want this to end.  He never wanted it to end._

_“Sansa…..sweet….perfect….beautiful…..Sansa.”  Jon starting rubbing her clit to make sure they made it there together._

_When he finally found himself pushed over the edge, it was harder than he could remember.  Sansa collapsed on top of him, and he kissed the top of her head._

_He loved her so, so much._

_She was perfect and all he ever wanted, but would never be worthy of._

_“I – I – “ He tried, but the words wouldn’t come out.  “You’re amazing.  Did you know that?”_

_Jon lifted Sansa’s face, cupping her cheek and tucking her hair behind her ear.  He kissed her softly, and basked in the afterglow._

_He wanted to hold her in his arms again, for hours on end.  To just lie in bed with her next to him._

_That wasn’t to be, however.  The alarm on his phone went off, and Jon sighed.  They had to get a move on or questions would be asked._

_Jon grabbed at a few tissues and lay them on his belly.  Sansa slid off him, so he could remove and tie off the condom.  They’d worked their way through quite a few packets of those over the last couple of months or so._

_Jon wiped his cock dry and handed Sansa some tissues._

_He opened his raindrop stained window to let fresh air in and the smell of sex out._

_Jon kissed Sansa again, before she could dress.  He ran his fingers up and down her bare back and looked into her eyes.  They still reminded him of the sea._

_“There are no words to describe how incredible you are”, Jon told her.  He picked up her bra and helped her on with it, tying the clasp behind her back.  She wouldn’t let him help with her panties, however._

_“If you help me put them on, I’ll want to take them back off again”, she giggled.  Sansa began to play with his hair, and whined when he reminded her that they had to get a move on._

_“Things would be so less complicated if we didn’t have to.”_

_Jon stilled.  He wanted more than anything to tell Sansa that he loved her and he wished they could spend every moment of every day together._

_But he lived in the real world.  Sansa wouldn’t want anything more permanent with him._

_She’d told him all about her plans for the new semester and how excited she was to go back to King’s Landing and see Margaery again.  She’d told him all about her favourite teacher, Professor Tarth._

_Jon quietly pulled on a fresh pair of boxers and a clean t-shirt and jeans.  As the summer had got closer and closer to its end, their bubble had started to feel under pressure.  Deep down, he knew it would soon burst.  It had to._

_What could he offer Sansa?_

_He made them a quick coffee before he took Sansa back to Winterfell.  Sansa played with Ghost while she waited for the kettle to boil, rubbing his belly the way he liked it._

_“He’ll miss you”, said Jon, handing her a cup.  “When you go back to King’s Landing.”_

_“He’ll miss you.  When you go back to White Harbour”, she replied.  Sansa tied her hair up in a bun.  She wore a pale gold sundress Jon quite liked her in._

_Jon coughed.  “Is it tomorrow Robb comes back, or the day after?”_

_“The day after”, she replied.  “I think he’s home for ten days before you have to go?”_

_“Yeah.  You’re going back to King’s Landing on Tuesday?”_

_“Monday.”  She looked out the window._

_“I’ve – this has – this summer has been…….it wasn’t ever what I planned, but that doesn’t – it meant something to me, Sansa”, he told her._

_“Meant?  Yeah.  Me too.  Of course, you’re right.  I’m going back to King’s Landing and you’re going back to White Harbour.”_

_“What?  Yeah.”  He’d wanted to say he would miss her; that he would still love her when he saw her at Christmas.  He’d wanted to be selfish and tell her the truth._

_“I – we – “_

_“It’s alright, Jon.  You don’t need to dance around it.  We never told anyone.  As far as anyone else knows, this never happened, right?  And we’ve had….it was fun.”  Jon nodded._

_He was caught between the knowledge that this would have to come to an end sooner or later and the desire to fight for her.  To fight for them._

_But surely if Sansa wanted something more, she would say so?_

_He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but it seemed like that would only make things more awkward now._

_“I should be going.  Are you alright to give me a lift back to Winterfell?”_

_“Yes”, Jon told her quietly.  Maybe it was best this way.  He’d never be worthy of Sansa Stark, no matter how much he loved her._

_She deserved someone who could give her the world.  Jon would never be able to do that.  Maybe it was better to end things this way, without either of them getting hurt._

_Only, he was already starting to feel a little lost.  As if he hadn’t really been happy before her._

_Their bubble had burst._

_Jon dropped Sansa off around the corner from Winterfell in their usual spot.  She kissed him lightly on the cheek.  “You’re a good guy, Jon.  Remember that.”_

_She ran out of the car, without saying goodbye, and he watched as she turned the corner and went out of sight._

_Jon wanted to shout after her, to run after her, but he couldn’t quite move.  He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, only that there was a hole in his life where Sansa had been._

_Sansa most likely hadn’t wanted anything permanent with him, but he should at least have tried.  He should have fought for her.  He should have fought for them._

_He should have told her that he loved her._

_Jon restarted the car and went home to a house which felt empty.  From then until the day he left for White Harbour with Robb, it was as if his summer with Sansa had never happened._

_She was polite, cordial and distant with him._

Jon looked back down at Sansa playing with Ghost and wished again that he had been selfish enough to tell her he loved her and wanted to subject her to a long-distance relationship, regardless of what anyone else thought. 

Regardless of her over-protective father and brothers. 

Regardless of the fact that Jon would never, ever be worthy of her. 

He wasn’t good enough for someone as beautiful and perfect as Sansa.

He knew Robb had threatened to castrate Theon once if he so much as lay a finger on Sansa.  That summer, he had perhaps held back in the fear that Robb would do that to him if he knew the truth. 

They’d had a night out following Robb’s return, in which Jon had got drunker than he’d ever been before then.  He’d drunk shot after shot after shot, until he started vomiting.  Robb had taken him home, and his mother had sat up all night with him to make sure he didn’t choke to death. 

He’d tried to forget about Sansa, but every time he did the hole in his heart stopped him. 

Harry cut through Jon’s thoughts by announcing he was going for a shower.  Jon saw him look expectantly at Sansa, but she simply replied that she’d see him when he came back down. 

Harry didn’t seem too pleased at that, but Sansa went to sit cross-legged on the floor and continued playing with Ghost. 

“You should get a dog, Sans.”  Jon turned his head to see Robb taking a picture of Sansa and Ghost on his mobile.  “Someone lovable to come home to at night.”

Jon thought that was intended as a dig at Harry, even if he and Sansa didn’t live together, but she simply shrugged it off. 

“My building doesn’t allow pets.  Well, they allow guide dogs, but I’m not in need of one of them.”

“That is a nice picture.”  Arya peered over Robb’s elbow and looked at his phone. 

“You’re not allowed to spoil Grey Wind like that”, Robb told her.  “I don’t want to come back from honeymoon and find him expecting me and Jeyne to run around after him all the time.”

“I’ll spoil your dog however I want.”  Arya stuck her tongue out at him, and Jon wondered if he’d be dog-sitting after all. 

Jon excused himself and went to the bathroom.  He breathed in and out a few times, trying to get the memory of that last day with Sansa out of his mind. 

He couldn’t go back and fix it, and he wasn’t sure saying anything now would make a difference.  She was with Harry, and her relationships with him and Joffrey showed that Jon was most definitely not her type. 

He checked his phone and saw he had an Instagram notification.  Robb had sent him the picture of Sansa and Ghost.

When he went back through to the kitchen, Sansa was feeding Ghost some leftover meat.  “There’s a good boy.  You like this, don’t you?”

_This_  appeared to be the remnants of some stew or other.  Jon decided Robb was right to insist that Arya not spoil Grey Wind.  Ghost had passed that stage a very long time ago.

Jon jumped when he heard Arya’s voice behind him.  “Your dog is well trained.  You know, Archmaester Pylos has a theory about dogs.”  Jon looked at her quizzically. 

“I did a paper on his work on animal behaviour.  He theorized that dogs pick up their owner’s feelings.  I did notice how Ghost barked at Harry.  He didn’t like him.  He seems to like Sansa, though.”  Jon gulped. 

Had he been too obvious when he looked in her direction?  Jon looked at Arya suspiciously, trying to figure out what she’d deduced from how he looked at her sister, but she simply smiled innocently at him. 

With Arya, however, that was normally when she was at her most devious. 

“Ghost has always been good with all of you”, said Jon finally. 

Harry returned quickly, and saw Sansa feeding Ghost.  Clearly deciding that he might as well try and join in, he offered Ghost a biscuit. 

“Here, boy.  Do you want this?”

“No!” Sansa shouted at Harry.  “Harry, that’s chocolate.  You could make him ill by feeding him that.”

“How was I supposed to know?”

“There, there”, said Sansa, patting Ghost’s head.  “You’d prefer meat anyway, wouldn’t you?  Yes.  Yes, you would.  Good boy.”

Jon watched Sansa cooing over his dog and wished she would run her fingers through his hair, as she used to do, and speak soothing words to him. 

He’d obviously reached a new low in his brooding over Sansa Stark if he was now jealous of his dog. 

“Would you like to stay for dinner, Jon?” Catelyn asked.  “I asked Ned to get plenty food in.  There’s more than enough to go around.

Jon thanked her for the offer, and wished he could stay.  If only to see Sansa with Ghost.  She looked so happy with him that Jon regretted coming over alone the last few days. 

He’d have seen her smile a lot more if he’d brought his dog. 

“As much as I want to stay, I’m afraid I can’t.  I have a standing Thursday football engagement at Sam’s.  Gilly makes us cheesy nachos.”

“Another time”, smiled Catelyn. 

“Are you doing anything tomorrow morning, or will we see you at the rehearsal?” Robb asked.  They were due at the local sept at around two. 

“I’ll meet you at the sept”, said Jon. 

“I want to give Ghost a good run out tomorrow, so we’ll head down to Stony Shore or over to Wolfswood Country Park.  Mum won’t be able to take him on more than a couple of short walks on Saturday.  She has a hair appointment in the morning, and the wedding in the afternoon.”

Besides, Jon wanted to clear his head before he had to spend most of Friday and Saturday in Sansa’s company.  They were both in the bridal party and would be thrown together a lot more than they had been over the last few days. 

Jon left Winterfell a half hour later, with Robb and Arya seeing him to the door. 

“Thank you”, said Robb.  He bent down to scratch behind Ghost’s ears. 

“The smile on Sansa’s face when she was playing with Ghost made my day.  I haven’t seen her as happy as that in a while.  If I’d thought it would make that much of a difference to her, I’d have brought Grey Wind over.  It’s a shame she can’t get a dog of her own in Gulltown.”

“No problem”, Jon replied. 

“And I’ll speak to Jeyne tonight about that thing you mentioned with Eleyna.”  Jon nodded awkwardly.  He wasn’t sure what Arya had been getting at earlier, but her attention was certainly caught now. 

“What about Eleyna?  You aren’t interested in her, are you?  In Greyjoy’s leavings?  I thought you already had a date for the wedding anyway.  Robb wanted to sit her next to Gendry.”

“Nosy.”  Robb tweaked Arya’s nose and Jon resisted the temptation to laugh at the sight of it.  Arya had a way of getting revenge when you least wanted it. 

“All Jon did was point out that even the most oblivious person in the world – him – could see that Eleyna was flirting with Harry right in front of Sansa.  I said I’d get Jeyne to talk her into toning it down a bit.  It isn’t fair on Sansa, and after our intervention yesterday I don’t want to upset her even more by bringing it up with her.”

“Really?” Arya fixed him with a smirk that made Jon uncomfortable.  It usually indicated that Arya had information she found interesting; information the subject of it wished she didn’t have. 

“How interesting.”

“I do have a date for the wedding”, Jon mumbled.  “Alys.  One of the nurses from work.  Like you said, Robb is going to sit her by Gendry.  The only person she knows other than me is my mother, and it’d be a bit weird to ask her to a wedding and then sit them together.”

“It’d be something Robin would do”, mused Robb. 

Arya snorted.  “Robin would sit the three of them together.  If he ever got a date.”

“On that note, I should head to Sam’s”, said Jon.  “I’ll see you at the sept tomorrow.  Call me if you need anything before then.”

Jon walked away from Winterfell in the direction of Sam and Gilly’s house seriously concerned about what Arya had picked up on.  Did he really stare at Sansa that much? 

If he were honest with himself, Jon knew the answer to that question was a resounding  _yes_. 

Sam didn’t live that far away, and with school out for the summer it didn’t matter that Jon turned up slightly earlier than normal. 

Jon had met Sam in a Medieval Westerosi History lecture in his first year at White Harbour.  While that had been Sam’s focus, Jon had chosen it to fulfil his Arts & Humanities requirement.  They had sat next to each other in the first lecture and then found themselves in the same tutorial group. 

Jon had stood as godfather to Sam’s son, also called Sam, the previous year.

“Afternoon, Gilly”, Jon smiled when she opened the door.  Gilly bent down and patted Ghost on the head.  His dog seemed to be pretty popular today. 

“Come on in.  Sam’s already in front of the TV.  I’ll bring the two of you through some beers.”  Jon went through to the sitting room and saw Sam on the sofa, reading a book to his fifteen month old. 

“Never too early to get them started”, said Sam.  He held up the book he was reading, and Jon saw it was a fairytale about the defeat of the evil Night King. 

Jon sat down on the armchair to the right of Sam’s sofa, and muttered to Ghost to sit. 

Ghost was always good with children, but he still liked to be careful. 

Gilly brought them through a bottle of beer each, and took Sam away with her.  “Bath time”, she cooed.  Little Sam didn’t like the sound of that, judging by his crying, but he seemed to have little choice in the matter.

“Looking forward to going back next week?” Jon asked.  Sam had a week-long training course on new course materials the Northern Council had instituted before term started. 

“A bit”, Sam shrugged.  “Eight weeks off in the middle of summer always sounds good in theory, but I tend to get a bit bored after three or so.  I’m looking forward to finding out about the new core lessons they want us to do on the War of the Five Kings.  Do you think Robb could possibly be descended from the Stark king?”

“Maybe.  His family have lived in Wintertown for generations”, said Jon.  “Speaking of, I saw that documentary the other night – the one on the rise of the Boltons – what did you think?”

“A bit fantastical for my liking.  The presenter seemed more interested in gossip than verifiable historical fact”, Sam replied.  He took a swig of the beer Gilly had brought through for him. 

“How are you getting on this week?  You managing to keep away from that hospital?”

Jon snorted.  Robb was not the only friend who constantly told him he worked too hard.  Sam could be just as bad at times. 

“Mostly.  I went to a fundraising meeting on Tuesday, one which lasted all of about an hour, and I spent around three and a half minutes on a call to Mormont on Wednesday about something to do with that meeting.  It was hardly anything.”

“You have to switch off, Jon.  It isn’t healthy.”

“Says the man I know does at least an hour of marking in the evenings, and has taken more than one online education course he wasn’t required to do”, Jon retorted.  He knew he was being a bit petty, but it was mostly because Sam had a point. 

Mainly, Jon admitted to himself, he was someone who naturally worked hard and wanted to excel at what he did.  It was also, however, a way of keeping his mind off the part of himself Jon knew was missing.

Sansa. 

Sam turned on the TV, and muted the pre-game when he saw that Alliser Thorne was the pundit for the Wolves match.  Neither Sam nor Jon could stand the man. 

He always criticized their team, and for no justifiable reason. 

Jon started to sip away at his beer.  He’d already had a couple of whiskies with Ned and Robb.  Ghost, seeming to tire, moved to lie down on Jon’s feet. 

“How is everything going over at Robb’s?  Are they all ready for the wedding?  Any fights broken out yet?”

“Not yet.” Jon found himself grinning.  “There is potential there – mostly, if I’m honest, involving Arya.”

Robb’s younger sister wasn’t fond of Jeyne’s mother or sister, or of Harry Hardyng.  Jon wondered which of the three of them was most likely to be on the receiving end of Arya’s sharp tongue, but found it too hard to pick a winner. 

“And Sansa?”

“What about Sansa?”  Jon tried to sound casual, and to keep his voice level, but he failed dismally.  It didn’t help that Sam knew what had happened between him and Sansa. 

“Jon.”

“Sam.”  Jon sighed.  “Sorry.  And to answer your question…….it isn’t going well.  Yes, I’ve seen her every single day since Monday, but I’ve also seen her with Harry every single day since Monday.”

Ghost perked up, perhaps at the mention of Sansa’s name.  He looked up at Jon, who scratched him lightly behind the ears.  Ghost whined, but perhaps sensing his owner’s broodiness, stood up and then set his head down on Jon’s knee. 

It was a comfort thing the two of them had developed over the years. 

“Maybe it’s time for you to try and let her go”, said Sam.  “It’s been four years.”

“I’ve tried”, Jon told him softly. 

“Gods, have I tried.  I don’t know what else to do.  I can’t just choose not to be in love with her.  And every time – every single time I see her – my mind just goes back there, to what an idiot I was not to fight for her.  It’s – it’s complicated.”

“Because of Harry?”

“Partly.  But also because I – I love her right?  I’ve been in love with her for four years.  I want so much to tell her.  But, I also know that I’m one thousand per cent not good enough for her.  What have I got to offer her, Sam?  The highlights of my social life are coming over here for Thursday night football and going out with you, Robb or Theon a couple of Fridays a month.”

“Hey!” Sam protested. 

“Sorry.  I just – Sansa deserves someone who saves the world, someone who makes great discoveries and names stars after her.  She deserves everything, and I can’t give her any of it.  I’ll never be good enough for her.  I’m a complete idiot, because no matter how much that is true, I still want her.  I still love her.  I didn’t tell her that when I had a chance four years ago and I should have done.  I want her to be happy, but there’s a Sansa shaped hole in me.  It’s completely messed up.”

“Now that I will agree with.  It is messed up”, said Sam.  “But I do think you’re being hard on yourself.  And I know what Robb’s said to you about Harry, because I’ve been there when he’s spoken to you about him.  It sounds to me like you’re worth a million Harrys.  You love Sansa, and isn’t that the most important thing?”

Jon chuckled wryly.  “I thought you were just telling me that I should try and move on?”

“Oh, I definitely think that.  But I also think that you’re putting yourself down when you say that you aren’t good enough for her.  I don’t think that.  And, if you were to ask him, I don’t think Robb Stark would either.”

“Thanks, Sam.  You’re a good friend.  I just – urgh, this whole thing is a mess!  And, potentially making matters worse, I’ve invited Alys to the wedding as my date.”

“How’s that – oh, because of Robb?”  Jon nodded. 

“Robb is still convinced I’m in love with her.  I told him we were just friends, but he clearly didn’t buy it.”

“Well, you haven’t actively done much to correct that particular misunderstanding”, Sam pointed out.  Jon shrugged.  Sam was right on that one.

Jon took another drink of his beer.  “I just hope he doesn’t say anything to her.  I don’t want to have to explain to Alys about Sansa.  I know that if she asks me about it, everything will end up spilling out.  It doesn’t help either that Arya was acting pretty suspicious today.”

“Suspicious how?”

“Asking questions, making comments about Sansa and how much Ghost likes her.  He does, you know.  She always used to play with him and spoil him even more than I had.  Sometimes he’d ignore what I asked him to do until Sansa repeated it.”  Jon thought back fondly on that. 

“Arya being suspicious is not good news, though”, Jon told Sam.  “I don’t know.  I know Arya hates Harry.  Maybe she’s just looking for someone else to set Sansa up with instead.  Though why she’d pick me, I don’t know.  I’m not like any of Sansa’s other exes.  I must’ve been looking at Sansa too much.”

“Really?” Sam deadpanned.  He stood up, a seemingly empty beer bottle in hand, and started to move towards the door.  Jon knew he wouldn’t shout Gilly through while she was busy with Sam. 

Jon patted Ghost lovingly while Sam went to get more beers.  Robb had invited him and Gilly to the wedding, but they were going north for a couple of nights to visit one of Gilly’s sisters before Sam had to go back to work.

“Sorry for being mopey”, said Jon when Sam returned.  “But you are the only person I can talk to about this.  You’re the only one who knows everything.”

“I just – nobody likes to see their friend down, Jon.  And you don’t seem to be happy at the moment.  Not really.  You’re putting too much time into your work and regretting what you didn’t say to Sansa four years ago”, said Sam.     

“So, what’s the magic solution then?”

“Therapy?” Jon wasn’t sure if Sam was jesting or not.  And he wasn’t entirely sure it was an awful idea.

If Jon was honest with himself, it had been a difficult couple of years.  His mother had been to hell and back between her surgery and, more so, the chemotherapy she’d endured.  And Jon had been there alongside her. 

He worked long hours at a stressful job and was still in love with the woman he’d let slip away four years ago.  Perhaps some sort of counselling would help.  His mother had been to see someone during her treatment and said it helped. 

She’d encouraged Jon to go, but not pressed when he changed the subject.  Perhaps he should have. 

Jon’s mood improved as the night went on, with Northern Wolves annihilating the Last Hearth Giants.  He’d have to talk to Ned about the match tomorrow. 

Jon excused himself from Sam and Gilly’s relatively early, and walked back home with Ghost. 

It was a warm, bright summer night, and the walk settled Jon.

His mother was watching a home-makeover show when he walked in the door, sipping a glass of wine and praising a designer Jon thought had vandalized a beautiful house.  

They never had watched much of the same TV, though they’d both got into old classic films during chemo.  

“I’m going to head straight up to bed”, he told her.  “I want to take Ghost down to Stony Shore in the morning; give him a good run out before he’s cooped up most of the time ‘til Sunday.”

“What about the rehearsal?”

“It starts around two, so I don’t need to be at the sept until around quarter to.  If I get up early and head out around eight, I’ll have enough time to get there and back.  Anyway, I won’t bother with a shower until I need to come back to get ready for the dinner.”

“If you think you have enough time”, she shrugged. 

“I do”, Jon promised.  He kissed the top of her head.  “Enjoy the rest of your programme.  Night.”

“Night, sweetheart.”

Jon went upstairs to his room, and made sure his good clothes were laid out for the following evening.  After getting changed, he sent Ghost back downstairs to his proper sleeping place, and then went along the hallway for a quick piss. 

Jumping into bed, Jon hoped against hope that he would be able to manage getting through the next two days without something going badly wrong.


	5. Day Five - Sansa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are back with Sansa today - featuring Lysa, Edmure, Lyanna and an interfering Arya........

Sansa woke up early on Friday morning.  She hadn’t slept well, and decided an early morning run was in order to try and clear her head. 

Arya had kept her promise not to talk about Jon yesterday, but Sansa had still thought about him at their spa day.  And far more than she should have.

She pulled on a pair of shorts, a tank top and the trainers she’d brought with her from Gulltown.  There wasn’t anyone downstairs to explain herself to, and Harry hadn’t so much as turned over when she left the room.  

It was a beautiful morning, and the sun was already rising high when Sansa pounded the streets of Wintertown.  She hadn’t done this in so long. 

Running always cleared her head and after four days in which Sansa had regularly been thrown into Jon’s presence, it was much needed. 

It hadn’t been until she’d arrived back from the spa the previous afternoon to find Ghost at Winterfell that Sansa truly realized how little she’d properly smiled since arriving. 

And how far from happy she had been. 

Playing with Jon’s dog reminded her of happier times and forced her to address why she hadn’t been happy since arriving home – Harry.  He hadn’t been too impressed when she scolded him for offering Ghost chocolate. 

Nor had he seemed keen on the dog. 

Even before that, at the spa, as she’d listened to Jeyne talk about how much she loved Robb and was looking forward to their life together, Sansa recognized that she didn’t feel the same way about Harry.  Nor could she see herself doing so.

Sansa stopped, taking a few gulps of water while she waited to cross the road. 

Harry was one of the main reasons she was unhappy.  Even taking Jon out of the equation, Sansa knew that their time was up.  If this week had taught her anything it was that. 

She’d brought Harry with her so he could get to know her family better and maybe see if moving back here with him was something that might be possible in the future. 

Harry would never fit in here in Wintertown, Sansa thought as her pace increased again.  The emotion most prominent in her mind at that thought was not fear, disappointment or anger, however. 

It was relief. 

As she continued her run, Sansa put into place a plan – one that, as much as she wanted it to – didn’t involve considering Jon Snow. 

When Sansa got back to Winterfell, her mother was up, dressed and making coffee.  Sansa went straight for the fridge and a fresh bottle of cool water.  There didn’t seem to be anyone else about yet, which suited Sansa’s purposes perfectly. 

She’d never really had a detailed conversation with her father about her relationships, and her siblings were hardly unbiased. 

“Mum, do you have five minutes?”  Sansa bit her lip nervously, but her mother answered affirmatively. 

“Why don’t we go out onto the patio?” her mother suggested.  “It’s a beautiful morning.”

Sansa smiled, and followed her mother outside.  She hadn’t wanted to worry her – not when she was so stressed out about Robb’s impending nuptials – but now that Sansa had finally worked through things in her head and come to a decision, she felt more confident that this was a necessary conversation. 

“How was your run?”

“Good.  It helped me work out some things.”  Sansa took in a deep breath.  “I’ve missed Wintertown a lot.  And everyone here.  I don’t think I recognized just how homesick I was until I came back this week.”

“Oh, sweetheart.”  Her mother pulled her into a big, tight hug and Sansa had to stop her emotions from overtaking her. 

When her mother let go, Sansa turned to her.  “If I was to move back, would there – would you mind if I stayed here a while?  Until I get myself settled and sort out an apartment and a job?”

Sansa doubted her mother would refuse, but she figured she had to at least ask.  She didn’t want to simply announce she was moving back to the North, and to Winterfell. 

“Sansa, this is your home.  You can stay here for as long as you like whenever you like.  And I won’t lie.  Your father and I have missed you terribly.  I won’t guilt you by saying that we wished you would visit more often – because by that we would mean that we want to see you all the time – but it’ll be wonderful to have you with us again.  I take it – it will just be you that’s moving?”

Sansa chuckled.  “How subtle, mum.  Yeah, it’ll just be me.  I pushed for this trip, but all it has done is make me see that Harry and I aren’t really meant to be together.  I’m going to speak to him this morning.”

She felt awful sending him away like this but Sansa knew it was for the best. 

And while she knew that Jon wasn’t likely to suddenly announce he felt the same way as she did, Sansa had been forced to confront how much she still loved and cared for him. 

Her promise to herself not to think of Jon on this trip had been broken on countless occasions, and Sansa accepted this was evidence she and Harry were not compatible. 

“I’m sorry.  I’ve been so caught up with the wedding, it wasn’t until I saw you smiling yesterday afternoon that I realized you weren’t as happy as you should be.”

Sansa presumed her mother meant when she’d been playing with Ghost.  “When I get my own apartment, I think I’ll get one that’s dog friendly.  I’d like someone warm and cuddly to come home to.”

“Good.  You should ask Robb or Jon to help you pick one out.  I think Ghost and Grey Wind came from the same shelter.”  Sansa nodded.  She vaguely recalled Robb telling her that once. 

“I should head upstairs.  I need to take a shower and speak to Harry.”  Sansa sighed.  It wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, but it was the right thing to do. 

Sansa had considered delaying until they returned to Gulltown, but she didn’t want to give herself time to reconsider.  She had made a decision and she was going to stick to it. 

She downed the rest of the bottle of water and put it in the recycling bin before taking the backstairs up to her room.  Sansa reflected on the last time she’d snuck up this way, on Wednesday afternoon. 

She’d cried herself out in the bath and it had been the beginning of forcing herself to make a choice. 

And that choice had been to end her relationship with Harry. 

Even if nothing happened between her and Jon, it was the right choice to make, Sansa reminded herself. 

When she entered her bedroom, Harry was awake and scrolling through his phone.  He’d probably spent more of his waking hours doing that than anything else since they’d arrived on Monday morning. 

“Hey, babe”, said Harry as Sansa closed the door behind her.  He kept his eyes focused on the phone.  “You go for breakfast early?”

“I went for a run”, Sansa replied.  She sat down on the bed.  “I’m going to jump in the shower in a minute, but I wanted to talk first.  Harry?”

Harry finally looked up.  Sansa hated this part of a relationship. 

“Do we have to talk?” he pouted.  He reached a hand out towards her, but Sansa pulled away. 

“We do.  I – Harry, I want to move back to Winterfell.  When I go back to work on Wednesday, I’m going to hand in my notice to Mr. Royce”, she said. 

Her notice period was four weeks, but even with this trip Sansa knew she was owed a few days and that would bring forward her leaving date somewhat.  It’d also give Mya around a month to find someone to take her room. 

“And what?  You expect me to move all the way up here?  My firm doesn’t have an office in the North, Sansa.  Few reputable financial firms do.”  Sansa wondered how long she’d ignored Harry’s selfishness.

“I don’t expect you to move with me.  I’m moving alone.  I think that’s for the best.  This – we – I think we need some time apart.”

“Some time?” It seemed to click for Harry just what she was saying. 

“You mean permanently?  Sansa, you couldn’t have thought of this before I booked flights, used up precious vacation time and had my best suit dry-cleaned for your brother’s wedding?  I know you said you wanted me to meet your family, but I figured you didn’t want to be a dateless bridesmaid.”

Sansa closed her eyes. 

She could understand more than ever what Robb and Arya saw when they looked at Harry.  “I know my timing could be better.”

“No shit, Sansa.”  She opened her eyes to see him running his hands through his hair.  “Is there someone else?  You seemed awfully friendly with that guy on Wednesday.  Whatshisname?  That friend of your brother’s?”

Sansa swallowed.  Had she really been that obvious when talking to Jon?  “What?”

“The way you were talking to him in the cab about whether or not he had a date”, Harry scoffed.  Sansa felt a sense of relief. 

“Theon is just a friend.  I’ve known him since I was seventeen.  There isn’t anything going on between us and never will be”, Sansa replied.

“If you say so.”  Harry didn’t seem to believe her, but Sansa was past caring.

“I’m going for my shower.  You should pack and check flights.  The weekday ones between here and Gulltown are usually at the same time every day.  You might be able to get yourself on the one leaving at three, and be back home tonight.” 

Sansa was done being anything more than polite.  She grabbed a towel and change of clothes, and locked herself in the en-suite. 

She took in a deep breath, switched on the shower, and removed her running gear.

The water was hot and Sansa set it to the highest power level.  She stood under the showerhead and let the water wash right over her. 

A part of her was dreading having to explain to her entire family in the space of a day that she and Harry had split up.  The day of Robb’s wedding rehearsal might not have been the ideal one to do this, but it had to be done. 

Sansa’s thoughts turned to Jon.  She knew Arya would ask questions about him now.  Her sister wouldn’t be able to stop herself. 

Was he a factor in her decision? 

But all Jon had done was make Sansa see that it would never work with Harry; this break-up was not about her getting back together with Jon. 

He’d showed no sign in the intervening four years of seeing her as anything more than Robb Stark’s sister. 

She grabbed some lemon body wash from the shelf and lathered some onto her breasts, wishing Jon were here to do it for her.

Harry was packed and dressed by the time Sansa emerged from the en-suite.  “There was a cancellation on the flight at three.”

“Good.  Do you want to come down and get breakfast, or will I bring something up for you?”

“I’m not sitting down there with your family”, Harry told her flatly.  Perhaps it was for the best.  As soon as Arya got free reign to say what she liked to and about Harry, the potential for a row would increase massively. 

“I’ll bring you up coffee and toast after I’ve eaten.”  She went to apologize again, but saw little point in doing so and just left the room. 

Gendry and Arya were having coffee with her parents when she walked into the kitchen and it struck Sansa that her sister’s boyfriend wasn’t in the wedding party, and therefore was free until the dinner. 

She caught her mother’s eye and nodded, letting her know everything had been dealt with. 

Sansa poured herself a coffee and sat down next to her father.  “Gendry?  Would you be able to do an airport run for me later?  I’ve got the rehearsal, so I won’t be able to do it myself.”

“Sure.  Who am I picking up?”

“You’re not picking anyone up.  I need you to take Harry to the airport.  He’s managed to get a seat on the three PM to Gulltown.” 

Sansa smiled, so Arya wouldn’t immediately jump to the obvious conclusion – that Harry was ditching Sansa to go home early on a flimsy excuse.

“Please tell me it’s because you’ve kicked double H to the curb”, said her sister bluntly.

“Arya!” her father didn’t seem amused. 

“It is”, said Sansa.  “Its fine, dad.  She and Robb were right all along.  Please don’t lord it over me for the rest of our lives.  And make sure Robb doesn’t either.”

“As long as Harry’s out of our lives for good, that’s fine by me.”

Sansa helped herself to a banana and dropped her second bombshell of the morning. 

“I’m going back on the flight I have booked on Monday, but it won’t be for long.  I’m moving back to Wintertown after I’ve worked out my notice period with Mr. Royce.”

“Wow”, said Arya.  “You don’t do things by halves.”

“We’ll be delighted to have you home again”, her father told her.  Sansa hugged him tightly.  She had missed this so much, just sitting around the table and talking.  It wasn’t the same seeing and speaking to them on video calls. 

“And I know Robb will be pleased.  He’s been worried about you.”

Sansa knew that was her father’s way of saying they’d all been worried about her without trying to make her feel guilty. 

“Robb worries about everything”, she said.  And Sansa knew well enough that Robb would be pleased she’d ended things with Harry. 

He had made it quite clear that he didn’t think Harry was good enough for Sansa.  She wondered if he thought anyone matched up to his exacting standards.

“I told Harry I’d take him some coffee and toast.  He isn’t really in a sociable mood.  He’ll need to be checked in by one, so are you alright to leave around midday?”

“Fine with me”, said Gendry. 

“Thank you.”

Sansa was relieved that Gendry had already left to take Harry to the airport when Robb turned up.  He would be staying over at Winterfell, and needed to drop off an overnight bag. 

Her parting from Harry had been stilted and awkward as hell and Sansa suspected his main point of irritation was being the dumped party.  He had promised to drop off any of her things in his apartment before she returned, and asked if Mya could put together anything he’d left at hers. 

Goodbye had been the extent of Sansa’s farewell, and she had pointedly ignored the victory dance Arya performed. 

Sansa was watching a news programme in the family room with Arya when Robb came in.  “Sansa!  Arya already told me the good news!” 

Sansa rolled her eyes, but she allowed her older brother to hug her all the same.  She then gave Arya a pointed look.  Her sister simply shrugged. 

“I like to spread a little happiness around the world.  Robb is getting married tomorrow.  I wanted to take his mind off any nerves he has by giving him some news I knew he would appreciate.”

“I can’t wait for you to come home.  Wintertown isn’t the same without you.”  Her big brother could be such a dork sometimes.

“Yeah, yeah”, Sansa snorted.  “As much as I know you wanted this, I’m sorry if I’ve screwed up the seating plan for tonight or tomorrow.”

“Not really.  Jon only told me he was bringing someone three days ago.”

“Yeah, some nurse from the hospital, right?” said Arya conversationally.  Sansa knew her sister, though. 

Arya was fishing for information, and it wasn’t for herself.   

“Alys.  Hmm.  He says she’s just a friend, but Jon is totally gone on her.  He got really drunk on his birthday and wouldn’t stop going on about her and what a mess the whole thing was”, said Robb. 

He pulled out his phone to check something, and Sansa found herself speaking up.  She hoped against hope that her voice sounded even.

“A mess?”

“Yeah, Alys is with someone.  They’re pretty serious.  I really don’t know why Jon is bringing her.  It isn’t a good idea.  It isn’t healthy.  Maybe that’s why he decided to go to Stony Shore this morning.” 

“Stony Shore?  She lives in Stony Shore?” Sansa asked. 

“No.  But that’s where Jon goes when he needs to get his head together.  He takes Ghost and lets him run on the beach there”, said Robb.  He put his phone away and picked up his overnight bag again. 

“I offered to go with him once, around the time Lyanna was diagnosed and he was freaking out, but he didn’t want me to.  He likes to go himself.  I don’t think he’s ever taken anyone down there.  Not even Val.  I’m going to go and drop this bag off in the room upstairs.  I’ll see you two in a few.”

Jon might not have been the reason Sansa had split up with Harry, but it still cut her to the core to hear that he wanted this Alys girl.  Sansa wondered what she was like, and how long Jon had known her. 

She wondered if Alys and Lyanna got on well.  She wondered if Alys was pretty and smart and what it was about her that had captured Jon’s heart. 

Mostly, however, Sansa wondered why life was so unfair. 

“Stony Shore”, she mumbled.  She recalled the first time Jon had taken her there, and kissed her.

“Sansa?” She could hear her sister saying her name.  “What about Stony Shore?  Did – Jon took  _you_  there, didn’t he?”

Damn Arya and her perceptiveness.  Sansa nodded.  “Yeah.  A few times.  Half a dozen.  Probably more.”

It was  _their_  place.  It was where Jon had first kissed her. 

“Don’t you think – “

“You heard Robb.  Jon’s quite obviously in love with this Alys girl.  I’ve never expected him to sit around waiting for me for four years.  I haven’t waited around for him for that time either.” 

Sansa was exasperated with herself as much as with Arya.  She’d sworn not to tell her sister anything else and now she was letting slip even more information. 

“Please just leave it, Arya.  What happened is past.  It is over.  Understood?”

“Fine.”  But Sansa knew her sister.  This wasn’t the end of their conversation.  Arya was the most stubborn of all the Starks, and her family were all well known for their stubbornness.

“I’m going to go and lay out my clothes for tonight.  If the rehearsal runs late, we might not have much time to get ready before the dinner.”  Sansa went upstairs to the sanctuary of her bedroom. 

She knew that Arya meant well, and didn’t intend to come across as intrusive or interfering, but her questions weren’t helping matters at all. 

Sansa meant for this move back to Wintertown to be a fresh start.  It couldn’t be that if she simply increased the amount of time she spent obsessing over Jon Snow.  No, part of her fresh start had to be finally moving past him and maybe being here would give her more perspective and stop her romanticizing him. 

It had been four years.  Jon had never been in love with her and he never would be. 

He was, apparently, in love with Nurse Alys. 

Sansa opened her wardrobe and pulled out the garment bag with her dress.  As a bridesmaid, Sansa hadn’t needed to purchase a new dress for the wedding, and had consequently spent the money she would’ve spent on it on one for the rehearsal dinner. 

It was a full-length blue gown that had reminded her of the ocean.  Sansa had also spent a small fortune getting a pair of plain beige shoes dyed the same colour to match the dress. 

Knowing Robb, he would only be getting married once, and her brother deserved to see his sister at her best.  This was another way she’d justified the expense to herself. 

Sansa laid the garment bag out on the bed and set the matching shoes at the foot of it.  She had yet to decide how to style her hair; it would depend on how much time she had to get ready. 

Not for the first time, Sansa silently gave thanks to her parents for giving her a bedroom with an en-suite.  She wouldn’t need to queue for a shower.

A glance at the clock told her that Gendry and Harry should be at the airport by now. 

Sansa smoothed down her skirt nervously as she sat in the back row at the sept while they waited for everyone to gather.

She sent off a quick text to her friend and roommate Mya, letting her know about the split with Harry and asking her to try and put his things together for collection.  Harry had never left much around her apartment and she doubted it would take Mya as much as five minutes to gather it all. 

“This is boring”, Arya whined.  She sat down in front of Sansa and turned round to look at her.  Sansa put her phone away and caught her sister’s gaze. 

“It won’t be too bad.  Once everyone gets here we just need to do a run through for tomorrow, and then we can go back to the house to get ready for tonight.  Gendry texted, by the way.  He dropped Harry off.”  Sansa sighed. 

She shared her sister’s boredom, but it helped in a way that Jon wasn’t here yet.  It meant Sansa wasn’t left trying her best not to stare at him. 

Jon wasn’t the last of the party – they were also waiting on Theon – but Mrs. Westerling was mumbling about timekeeping. 

“Urgh.  I can’t believe she’s still going on about Jon and Theon!” Arya exclaimed.  “We aren’t meant to start for another fifteen minutes.  The bloody septon isn’t even ready yet.”

Sansa shrugged.  “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

The words had barely left her mouth when the door opened and Jon walked in.  Sansa tried to avoid looking at him, but Arya called Jon over. 

She wondered if her sister had somehow decided to make it her mission to get Sansa and Jon together – or, at the very least, to find out if it was a possibility, given the questions she’d been asking. 

Sansa wouldn’t be opposed to it, if she was honest, but she knew Jon didn’t want that.

“Better watch out”, Arya warned Jon.  “Mrs. W. isn’t happy with the latecomers.  That’s you and Theon, by the way.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Sansa saw Jon scratch the side of his neck.  He looked a little confused.  “I thought I was running early.”

“Apparently fifteen minutes early isn’t early enough.”

“I had to drop Ghost off at home”, said Jon.  He turned and waved at the front, and Sansa saw Robb hailing him. 

“I should go – I’ll see you later.”

Sansa watched as Jon walked up the centre aisle to where Robb and Jeyne were standing with everyone else.  He greeted them with a quick hug and then said something Sansa couldn’t hear to her parents.  Sansa also saw Robb whisper something to Jon that made his back visibly stiffen. 

Arya’s mumbles brought her out of her thoughts.

“You two do a really good job of pretending.  Seriously.  I’m not sure I could’ve pulled it off this long.”

“Arya, will you please let it rest?  We had a summer fling four years ago.  It was hardly the romantic story of the century.” Sansa pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten.  She couldn’t lose her patience with Arya here. 

“We went our separate ways, and it was over.  It is done.  Can we please not make a huge production of it?”

“Fine.  You say it’s over.  But I look at the two of you, and I remember how you were that summer and compare it to how you are now.  I want you both to be as happy as you were then.”

Sansa looked fondly upon her sister.  She knew Arya meant well. 

“I will be.  But Jon doesn’t want to go back to that summer.  He’s in love with Alys.  Besides, Harry and I split up less than four hours ago.  Can we just drop it?  For now, at least.  Robb is getting married tomorrow and we should concentrate on that.”

“Fine.”  Arya gave her a look that told Sansa it wasn’t over, but nothing more was said as Theon arrived and the rehearsal began. 

The septon, a young man Sansa estimated to be in his mid-twenties, wanted to run through the entire ceremony from start to finish to ensure everyone knew what was expected of them.  Given his age, Sansa wondered if the septon himself was looking for a practice run more than anything. 

And so she followed Jeyne down the aisle, trying to concentrate on looking straight in front of her rather than to the side where Jon stood, and then listened as the septon ran through the order of events from the musical choices to the readings from the Seven-Pointed Star Jeyne had chosen. 

Sansa had been a bit disappointed that they’d chosen to be married in a sept rather than at a heart tree as was tradition for the Starks, but Robb had never been overly religious and Jeyne’s family had always worshipped in this way.

When it came to the rehearsal dinner that night, Sansa was relieved being a bridesmaid did not entail standing as part of the receiving line to greet the guests.  Instead she sipped champagne and stood beside Arya and Gendry. 

Although they’d run through the entire ceremony at the rehearsal, they’d started early and Sansa had found herself with ample time to get ready back at Winterfell.  She’d lightly curled her long hair so it ran down her back in waves, and chosen eye make-up in varying shades of blue. 

With the too-expensive dress and shoes, Sansa felt good about herself. 

Growing up, Sansa had always equated looking good with feeling good.  That had been reinforced somewhat by her years with Joffrey, who told her that she wasn’t good enough and made her feel the worse for it. 

She had now recovered from that time and reached a place where putting on a nice outfit and make-up made her feel confident.  But it wasn’t the be all and end all it once had been. 

Jon had called her beautiful, Sansa remembered.  Whatever she wore, however she looked, he had always called her beautiful. 

Even when she was on her period and felt bloated and miserable, Jon still maintained she was beautiful. 

Sansa thought she’d forgotten that. 

She caught sight of Jon on the other side of the room.  He was talking to a woman with green hair.  Sansa took a double take.  Was this Alys? 

Sansa could only see her from behind.  She wanted to know what Alys was like.  The masochistic part of her wanted to compare herself to the woman Jon had apparently fallen in love with. 

Sansa forced herself to pay attention to Arya and Gendry.  “I’m starving”, Arya sighed. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too”, Sansa agreed.  They’d eaten a quick sandwich not long after Robb turned up.  That had been just after noon, and it was now around six. 

Added to that, Sansa always felt hungrier after a break-up. 

“Sansa! Arya!  My favourite nieces!” Uncle Edmure walked over with a dark-haired girl on his arm that Sansa vaguely recognized.  “This is Roslin.”

“Nice to meet you”, said Sansa politely. 

She thought it best not to mention that she and Roslin had met before – specifically not the occasion in which Sansa had returned from the cinema bathroom to find Roslin with her tongue down Robb’s throat. 

“Where’s your boyfriend?  I thought Cat said he was here this week?” Sansa saw Roslin nudge her uncle gently; clearly her mother had said something and only one of them had taken it in.

“We separated very recently.  He went back to Gulltown.  Mum mentioned you were doing some tourist things.  Have you enjoyed the North?”

“Wolfswood Country Park is a beautiful spot”, said Roslin.  Sansa shot her a grateful smile. 

“We went for a walk there yesterday.  I can imagine it must be even more stunning in autumn, with all the leaves falling off the trees and the colours changing.”

“It’s fine as long as you aren’t walking a dog”, said Arya. 

“I dog-sat Grey Wind last October when Robb took Jeyne to Oldtown to visit Bran, and our trip there was not pretty.  Way too many people use the excess leaves as a way of hiding the fact that they can’t be bothered picking up their dog shit.”

Gendry snorted, and even Sansa had to hand it to her sister – Arya knew how to bring humour to any situation. 

“Are you seated near us?” Edmure asked.

“Arya and I are at the top table with the rest of the wedding party”, said Sansa. 

“And I think Gendry is with some of Robb and Jeyne’s friends.  Mrs. Westerling took nominal charge of the seating arrangements.  If I recall correctly, you’re with Aunt Lysa and Uncle Jon.  And Robin.  Uncle Benjen was meant to be with you, but he called last Sunday to say his unit had cancelled all leave and he wouldn’t make it.”

Sansa had been disappointed about that.  She hadn’t seen Uncle Benjen in years.  He worked in an intense commando unit which could be moved around the country on very short notice. 

This wouldn’t be the first family occasion he’d had to pull out of at the last minute. 

“Lysa.  Excellent.”  Edmure hadn’t perfected the ability to feign enthusiasm as yet, and Sansa felt a stab of pity for him.  For all that Lysa was his sister, Sansa understood how she could be at times. 

“Well.  I’m sure we’ll be starting soon.  I’ll see you later.”

“Poor Uncle Edmure”, sighed Sansa as he walked away.  “He and Roslin are not going to have fun at that table.”

“Uncle Ed will just drink his way through it”, Arya shrugged.

Sansa looked back in Jon’s direction and he caught her eye.  She could see a slight smile grow on his face as he looked over at them, but Sansa forced herself to look away.  A few moments later, however, Jon joined them. 

Sansa was surprised to discover that the green-haired woman was not Alys, but Jon’s mother Lyanna. 

“Sansa Stark! I haven’t seen you in far too long.” Lyanna gave her a quick hug. 

Jon and Robb had been in and out of each other’s houses since they were five, and Sansa had known Lyanna since she was four.  Sansa knew her mother had taken Lyanna out a few times during her cancer treatment to give Jon a break. 

“It’s good to see you”, Sansa replied honestly.  “I love your hair.”

It was bright green and cut in a short, stylish bob.  Sansa supposed the length was a result of her cancer treatment.  She recalled the Lyanna she’d known as a child always had long hair. 

“Thank you!  I’ve started being colourful with it.  You only live once, after all.  I was dropping something off in Jon’s office the other week, and the junior girl in there has her hair green.”

“Wylla”, supplied Jon.  Sansa could feel and smell him standing next to her.  She concentrated on her breathing and trying to ensure it was even. 

“She’s a hippy, mum.”

“So?  I liked it on her so I asked my hairdresser to do her magic.  And I found this old dress of mine in the closet.  I haven’t wore it in years, but I thought it would go well with my hair.  And if I look like a hippy, then so be it.”  Sansa chanced a look at Jon and saw him grin at his mother’s words. 

“How long are you home for, Sansa?”

“I fly back to Gulltown on Monday.  It’ll just be for a month, though.  I’d been thinking about it for a while, but I decided this morning.  I’m moving back to Wintertown.” 

Sansa caught Jon’s neck snap up at that news.  She hoped it wouldn’t bother him too much that she’d be around more.  They could be so awkward at times. 

“It’ll be great to have you back”, said Lyanna.  “Won’t it, Jon?”

“It will”, he agreed.  Jon turned to look her in the eye. 

“Robb said you – I mean, he didn’t mention you were moving home.  He’ll like that.  I know he’s missed you.  That everyone has.”

Sansa hoped he included himself in that, but knew that was unlikely to be the case.

His head turned then, and he looked in the distance before waving someone over. 

It took her a second, but Sansa realized this must be Alys.  She remembered someone telling her that he intended to introduce Alys to Gendry as they would be sitting together. 

Sansa wasn’t sure what she expected in Alys.  She found herself surprised, however, by the sight of a girl with dark hair and eyes.  For all Arya said Ygritte looked like Sansa, she saw nothing of herself in Alys. 

But then, she hadn’t seen any of herself in Val either.  

“This is Alys Karstark”, said Jon, introducing her to them. 

“Alys, this is Arya, Robb’s youngest sister.  And this is her boyfriend Gendry.  He’ll be at your table.  So now you know at least one person there.  This is Sansa.  She’s, uhm, Robb’s sister too.”

Sansa forced a smile across her face.  She glanced at her sister and saw Arya take in Alys with a hint of suspicion.  Arya was unfailingly loyal.

“And you know me.  So obviously I’m invisible”, joked Lyanna.  Jon rolled his eyes at his mother. 

“Alys, this is my mother.  Mum, this is Alys.  You may recognize her.  She works in your department”, Jon deadpanned.  Arya snorted. 

“How do you manage to convince people to spend time with you?” Lyanna nudged Jon. 

“He offered me free food and alcohol”, Alys put in.  Lyanna laughed. 

“That is priceless.  I’m off to the bathroom.  I’ll see you kids later.”

“Your mother is looking well”, said Sansa. 

She was going to have to get used to making small talk with Jon; when she moved back to Wintertown they’d see a lot more of each other.  He was Robb’s best friend and she was Robb’s sister, never mind his friendship with the rest of her family.  And maybe it would help. 

Besides, Sansa had always liked Lyanna.

“She is”, Jon agreed.  He watched as she rounded a corner and went out of sight. 

“She makes jokes, but she isn’t that far past recovering.  It’s only been the last couple of months that she’s been back at work full-time.”

“The beginning of June, I think”, said Alys. 

When she sat down ten minutes later, Sansa felt both proud of herself and thoroughly annoyed.  She had spent time around Jon as a friend and succeeded at it.  She had made conversation with Alys and the girl seemed lovely. 

But in spite of all of this, Sansa could feel a sense of jealousy build up inside her

The jealousy irritated and dismayed her; she wanted to move past Jon and this was a clear demonstration of how dismally she was failing at that, and she didn’t want to be the jealous ex-lover. 

She wanted to be her best self. 

Sansa focused her attention on the speeches that were due to precede the meal.  Mrs. Westerling spoke at length about Jeyne and how important her daughter was – and therefore how lucky Robb was to be marrying her. 

Sansa noted how embarrassed Jeyne appeared by what her mother was saying.  She was looking forward to Jeyne joining the family.  She’d fit right in with the Starks. 

Her own mother spoke, as did Eleyna, but it was Jon’s short speech that really captured Sansa’s notice.

“I won’t bore you all or delay dinner long”, Jon began.  Sansa could hear Arya sigh in relief; her sister’s belly had rumbled more than once during the speeches.

“I’ll save that for tomorrow.  Today, I just wanted to say congratulations to Robb and Jeyne.  I’ve known Robb since our first day of school when we were five years old.  And in all that time, I’ve never seen him as happy as he is now with Jeyne.  When we find something like that, we should hold onto it and never let it go.”

Sansa felt as if something had hit her in the gut. 

“I wish you both all the happiness in the world.  You both deserve it.  A toast – to Robb and Jeyne.”

“Robb and Jeyne”, Sansa echoed, her glass raised. 

The waiting staff descended on them with their starter when Jon returned to his seat.  Sansa took some deep breaths in and told herself off for taking his words to heart.

She thought back to that summer with Jon.  Had she fought enough for him?  For them? 

Would it even have made a difference if she had?

And then she chastised herself because it was clear Jon would have been thinking of Alys, not her.

Sansa started to eat her soup and tried to focus on something that wasn’t Jon Snow related.  She forced herself to think of the wedding. 

Jeyne had told them to come over to her house to get ready whenever they liked.  The ceremony would not start until two and the only time requirement they had was Osha’s arrival at noon to do their hair. 

Sansa had liked the hairdresser when they met to discuss styles for the wedding.  Osha and Jeyne had decided to go for old-style Northern braids, which could be twisted up, and which Sansa was excited about.

With their golden dresses, it would look amazing.  Sansa had worried about the dresses (with her red hair there were some colours that just clashed horribly) but Jeyne had selected different shades and styles for her, Arya and Eleyna. 

“What the hell kind of soup is this?” Arya intruded on her silence. 

“Vegetables of some description”, Sansa replied.  “You don’t like it?”

“Give me chicken noodle any day of the week.  It cures anything and everything.”

“And what do we need curing of here?”

“You won’t like my answer to that.”  Arya scooted closer.  “What did you think?”

“Of what?” Sansa pretended not to understand what Arya was talking about.

“Of Alys!” she hissed.  “You’re prettier than she is.  That said, Jon isn’t shallow.  He wouldn’t go for a girl based on looks alone.”

“She’s nice”, Sansa admitted.  “She’s smart and has a good sense of humour.  She and Lyanna clearly get along.  And she is pretty.”

It didn’t matter what either of them thought of Alys Karstark.  What mattered was  _Jon’s_  opinion of her.  And according to Robb, Jon was in love with her.  Besides, Jon had clearly known her for a reasonable amount of time. 

Sansa and Arya had known her for the best part of fifteen or twenty minutes. 

“When are you heading over to Robb’s after the wedding?” Sansa asked, changing the subject.  She knew her sister and Gendry were house-sitting for him. 

“Monday.  The Westerlings fly out Sunday lunchtime and Robb and Jeyne are booked on a flight to Sunspear that leaves around the same time as yours.”

“Does it?” That rang a bell.  “Actually, now you mention it, I think I remember mum saying something about that.  Two weeks in Dorne sounds like heaven, but it’d only burn me.  Marge and I went there for a weekend a couple of years ago, and I came back looking like a tomato.”

Arya snorted.  “I don’t burn.  See what happens when you take after dad’s superior Northern blood?”

“Oh, shut up.”  She didn’t mean it, though.  And Arya was keeping her company.  She would need that. 

Maybe after Sansa moved home, she and Arya would be closer and friendlier than they had been before she went south to King’s Landing.  Maybe they would go out for lunch or to the cinema as they’d started to do on her trips home?

Sansa liked the idea of having a closer relationship with her sister.  And she wanted to build a good one with Jeyne. 

After feeling hungry before she sat down, Sansa was positively full by the time she’d eaten half of the salmon she’d chosen as her main course.  She always found soup to be deceptively filling, almost a meal in itself.

Only the promise of a lemon cake induced her to consider dessert and she sacrificed a good portion of her main for it. 

Before dessert was served, Sansa excused herself and headed to the bathroom.  She’d had quite a few glasses of champagne and wasn’t sure if she was celebrating or commiserating. 

The bathroom was empty, and it wasn’t until Sansa had left the cubicle and was washing her hands that she heard the door open. 

“Hello.” Sansa smiled as Alys greeted her. 

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Definitely.  Your brother’s friends are a hoot.  And Gendry’s pretty cool.  How about you?  I’d hate to be sitting at the top table like that.  I’d feel like people were watching me eat, with it all raised up like that.” 

She wrinkled up her nose and went into the cubicle next to the one Sansa had vacated. 

“It isn’t so bad.  And after a few glasses of champagne it gets even less so”, Sansa replied. 

“I guess.  Aww.  Shit.  Seven hells.  Sorry – I know we just met, but you wouldn’t happen to have a tampon on you?  I wasn’t due for another couple of days, but I have the worst luck with this.  Or, could you get me one from the machine?”

“I have one.  I got caught short once, so I always carry extras no matter when in the month it is”, sympathized Sansa.  “Here.”

Sansa took a tampon from her purse and handed it to Alys under the cubicle door. 

_Sansa always hated talking about this sort of thing with guys.  Either they were grossed out by it or they asked strange questions._

_But given the way Jon was kissing her neck, she was going to have to speak to him about it very soon._

_“Do you want to go upstairs?” he asked her quietly._

_His dark grey eyes were boring into hers and she could feel her resolve weakening.  But no.  In truth, she had never liked the idea of period sex._

_And she doubted even Jon could turn her round on that one._

_“I don’t know if that’s a good idea”, she admitted.  “I can’t – it’s – aw, seven hells.”_

_She lifted a cushion and pulled it tightly over her face.  Jon gently moved it down._

_“Sansa, you can say no.  I won’t get mad.  If you don’t want to, then we won’t.”_

_He was looking at her with such earnestness that it made her heart flutter.  Sansa knew that was all she had to say and Jon would never, ever hold it against her or use it in an argument._

_“It isn’t that I don’t want to.  With you.  I just – I find period sex really icky.”_

_Jon chuckled.  “You should have said.  We don’t have to do anything.”_

_“Really?” she murmured._

_“Really.  I just – I’ll just hold you.”_

_And he had – she lay down on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, cuddled into Jon.  He ran his fingers up and down her arm and whispered soothing, comforting words._

_He told her she was beautiful and special and smart._

_It had been the same every other day she’d had her period while they were together.  Jon would make her feel loved._

_Even if he never said those words._

Sansa huffed internally.  Since she’d seen him again four days ago, the slightest thing had brought back memories of Jon.  It seemed she wasn’t even safe from tampons.  

Sansa wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or cry.

“What in seven hells are you doing?” Sansa looked up to see Jeyne had followed her to the bathroom. 

“Period emergency”, came Alys’s voice.  She came out to wash her hands a moment later.  “Hi, Jeyne.  Thanks, Sansa.  You’re a lifesaver.  Hopefully I won’t need to bother with the things much longer.”

“Oh?” Sansa asked. 

“Sigorn and I are thinking about trying for a baby.”

“How long have you two been together again?” Jeyne asked. 

“It’s been three years now.  Jon introduced us one summer they were both working security.  We’ve been living together a while and it just feels like the right time, I guess?  Maybe don’t mention it to Lyanna, though.  Two of the other nurses are pregnant at the moment and I don’t want to give her a scheduling headache before I have to”, Alys grinned. 

“I’ll see you both later.”

Alys left, having unknowingly dropped a bombshell, and Jeyne handed Sansa her bag to hold.  “Thanks.  Wow.  A baby?  Jon is going to be devastated.”

“Yeah, Robb said he was pretty gone on her.”  Sansa hoped her voice was even.  “Do you know her well?”

“I’ve met her a few other times.  She doesn’t come out much.  From what Robb said, I don’t think she has any idea of how Jon feels about her.  We want him to be happy but he won’t let us set him up with anyone.  It’s been months since Val”, Jeyne sighed.  “That’ll be another night out for Robb when she falls pregnant.”

“What?”

“Oh, Jon was absolutely plastered on his birthday when he told Robb about her.  They had to take him to Sam’s to sleep it off.  No cab driver would let him near their car, and in any case I doubt he’d have wanted us to dump him on Lyanna like that.  She was only just going back to work part-time then.  I think it would have been not long after we saw you in Gulltown.  Robb didn’t go out for a while after that.”

Sansa heard a flush, and Jeyne appeared a moment later.  Before Sansa could question her further, Arya appeared to say that her lemon cake was waiting for her, and if she stopped gossiping then she might be able to eat it.

“That’s you told”, laughed Jeyne. 

“I have to say, though, as much as Robb and I want Jon to be happy, there are advantages to him not having a girlfriend.  Or, rather, one advantage.  I liked both Ygritte and Val – hell, I’m the one who set him up with Ygritte – but both of them shared far too much about how great they thought he was in bed.”

“Oh”, said Sansa.  She fervently hoped that Arya kept her mouth shut. 

This was not a conversation she wanted to have with her sister.

“Yeah.  Alys doesn’t seem the type to do that, but as she said herself it looks like she’s serious about this Sigorn guy.  Poor Jon.  There’s nothing worse than being in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same.”  Jeyne sighed. 

“I’m sure he must regret the day he set the two of them up.  The complexities of love.  Come on, let’s go have our dessert.”

Sansa didn’t speak a word until they got back to their seats. 

“Don’t, Arya.  Just don’t.”

She was standing with Robb and Jeyne when Jon came to say goodbye to them.  Lyanna and Alys were arm-in-arm, presumably heading for their cab. 

Sansa watched them go and thought how friendly they seemed together.  How right they seemed together – with Jon, they would be like a family. 

“I’ll be over tomorrow morning once I’ve walked Ghost”, Jon told Robb.  “And had a shower.  I won’t have to fight anybody for one that way.”

“Jon, as best man I am entrusting you with a serious mission”, said Jeyne.  Robb raised an eyebrow. 

“You are to make sure that Theon does not start in on Robb with whiskey before he gets to the sept.  He can have one, but no more.

“Yes, boss”, grinned Jon. 

“Night, bud”, said Robb.  He gave Jon a quick hug, and Jeyne followed suit. 

“Good night, Sansa”, Jon said to her softly. 

“Good night”, she replied.  Sansa watched as Jon went to catch up with his mother and Alys. 

As much as she wanted to be over him, Sansa knew she wasn’t.  And seeing Jon around Alys made her wonder when she would be.

“How are you holding up?” Jeyne asked her.  She rubbed circles on Sansa’s back comfortingly. 

“Good.  I think time was up for Harry and I a while back, but I just didn’t want to accept it.”  Possibly because it would mean dealing with the Jon situation. 

“What finally did it?” Jeyne asked.  “If that’s not too nosy?  It wasn’t my sister, was it?  I know she can be flirty and flighty, and Robb said she’d gone over the line a bit on Wednesday – “

“I didn’t say she’d gone over the line, I just said that even Jon had noticed the two of them were thick as thieves and Sansa deserved better than that.  Actually, he was the one who suggested I speak to you, remember?” 

She felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of Jon sticking up for her like that.  But it was just his way.  As much as Sansa wanted to see more in his gesture. 

Instead, she answered Jeyne’s question.  “It was two things, actually.  One was realizing how unhappy I was.  The other was something you said.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.  When we were at the spa yesterday and you were talking about being in love with Robb.  I didn’t feel like that about Harry.  And I didn’t see myself ever feeling like that about Harry”, she admitted. 

“It’s tough, sometimes.  Accepting that a relationship has run its course.  Even when it isn’t your fault, it still makes you feel a bit of a failure.”

“You need to come over for dinner when you move back”, Jeyne told her.  “We’ll set something up – something regular.”

“I’d love that”, Sansa smiled.  “But, for now, I will let you two say goodbye to each other and go find everyone else.  We should be heading back to the house.”

Sansa looked around for her other siblings, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen.  She was about to go and look outside when she was accosted by Aunt Lysa. 

“Sansa!” Her aunt pulled her into a hug so tight it had Sansa worrying her circulation would be cut off.  “How are you?”

“Good”, she smiled.  “Uncle Jon, Robin.  I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to speak to you earlier.  It’s been pretty hectic today.”

“Yes, your mother was telling me about your young man.  And then Edmure mentioned it again.  So sad – having to come to a wedding on your own.” Sansa bit her tongue. 

This was typical Aunt Lysa; the real scandal was that Sansa would be without a date.  She decided to deflect, as she had with Edmure. 

“How is your hotel?”

“Excellent, dear”, Uncle Jon told her. 

“Good.  A friend of mine from school is the restaurant manager there – Jeyne Poole.”

“Oh, I don’t think much of their restaurant”, sniffed Lysa.  “They haven’t been good with Robin’s dietary requirements.”

“I’m sorry to hear that”, Sansa replied.  Although her aunt maintained Robin had a number of food allergies, Sansa suspected he was simply fussy.

“Oh, well.  We shall have to find you another young man at the wedding tomorrow.  You’re getting close to the danger age.  You must find someone soon or be left forever on the shelf.  Things will start going south quite soon, my dear, you mark my words.”

“Actually, I – “

“Sansa?”  She turned round to see Jon Snow standing in front of her. 

“Arya will be pleased – she’s been looking for you.  I said I’d come find you for her.  You know how she can be after a night in heels.”

Sansa wasn’t sure what he was doing here, but she was grateful for his presence.  She apologized to her aunt, uncle and cousin and promised to speak to them at the wedding.  Jon looked like he was going to place a hand on the small of her back, but he seemed to think better of it. 

“Thank you”, she told him, as soon as they were out of earshot.  “I thought you’d left?”

Jon raised a thin wisp of green material. 

“My mother left her scarf at the table.  I came back in to get it.  I did see Arya outside, but I heard what Lysa was saying to you and I figured my best man duties included avoiding a fight in the groom’s family the night before the ceremony.

Sansa smiled.  She looked him in the eye, and saw something flicker there.  Was it desire?  Or just her wishful thinking projecting that? 

“Perhaps that wouldn’t be the best thing, no.”

They went outside and the cooler air hit Sansa immediately.  She’d had more champagne than perhaps she should have, especially after her encounter with Alys and Jeyne in the bathroom.  The wooziness lasted only a couple of moments. 

Perhaps, she reflected, it was caused by Jon rather than the champagne. 

Jon glanced to the side, and Sansa followed his gaze to see Lyanna and Alys waiting for him in a cab. 

“I should go.  Yeah.”

He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but as always it wasn’t quite making it from his head to his mouth.  Sansa looked at that mouth and wanted nothing more than to pull it in the direction of hers. 

“Thanks again”, she said.  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.  Tomorrow.  I – I’m – it’s good you’re moving home, Sansa.  Goodnight.”

“Night.”  Jon smiled at her, one of those warm smiles she remembered from their summer together.  And it left her as confused as all hell. 

Sansa snorted.  She could buy a dictionary to translate Westerosi Common Tongue into High Valyrian, but she couldn’t buy one to translate Jon Snow. 

“What was Jon saying?” Arya had found her. 

“He rescued me from Aunt Lysa.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes”, said Sansa tersely.  “That’s all.  Come on, let’s find mum and dad and get a cab back to the house.”

There was more champagne back at the house and Sansa found it hard to turn down.  Even Rickon was permitted some. 

Her mother got a little emotional at it being Robb’s last night before marriage, and went up to bed relatively early.  Slowly, one by one, everyone followed until only Robb, Sansa and Arya remained.  

“I’m going to go get us another drink.”  Robb stood up and headed in the direction of the kitchen. 

“Well?”

“Well what?” Sansa was beginning to tire of this.  Arya had promised not to interfere, but since Sansa had ended things with Harry her sister had done nothing but that.

“I do NOT want details given Jon is more like a brother to me than anything, but you have seriously been holding out on me if what Jeyne said about him is right.”  Sansa snorted. 

“Ygritte and Val weren’t wrong”, she confirmed. 

“And Harry?”

“Arya, really?” Sansa squirmed.  She did not want to have this conversation, but given how persistent Arya could be Sansa knew a delay would never become permanent. 

“He couldn’t get you off for shit, could he?” Arya guessed.  Sansa gave a half-shrug, not wanting to admit the truth out loud. 

Arya snorted.  “It figures.  He’s so damn self-centred.”

Sansa couldn’t disagree with that, but luckily Robb returned.  “What are you two gossiping about?”

“Jon”, said Arya before Sansa could make something up.  She glared at her sister.  “So, we met this Alys girl he’s apparently in love with.”

“Apparently?” Robb gave a dark chuckle as he poured out more champagne for them.  “I’ve only ever seen him that drunk once before and it was years ago.  No, he went on and on about how into this girl he was but nothing would ever come of it because she had someone else.  He is completely and utterly in love with her.”

“But Jeyne said he actually set her up with her boyfriend.  It doesn’t make sense”, said Arya stubbornly. 

“Maybe it wasn’t until after he saw them together than he realized how he felt”, suggested Sansa. 

She remembered thinking she was past Jon – until she’d seen him with Val and known her feelings were still as strong as ever. 

Sansa took a long pull on her glass of champagne, not trusting herself to say anything further. 

“Maybe”, Robb mused.  “Took me a while to figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” Arya asked.  “Jeyne?”

“Jon and Alys.  I saw them together when I went to meet him for lunch a while after his birthday.  They were sitting talking about something, and then he just sort of hugged her.”

“But I thought you said Jon told you he was in love with her on his birthday?” Sansa grew more alert at the tone in Arya’s voice.  Her sister got a look on her face that normally indicated victory at some game or other. 

“Jon didn’t tell you it was Alys on his birthday, did he?  He just said he was in love with a girl who was with someone else.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.  I don’t see what you’re getting at, Arya.”

“Gods, I’m surrounded by idiots”, Arya sighed dramatically.  “Did you ever think that maybe you got it wrong, and it isn’t Alys he’s in love with?”

“But who else would it be?  Okay, he changes the subject when I bring it up, but Jon’s never denied it.”

“Because then he’d have to tell you who she really is”, Arya whispered.  She caught Sansa’s eye, and a little hope flickered. 

Sansa badly wanted Arya to be right – and it was true that everything didn’t add up.  But there could be other explanations for that.  Like Jon being in love with some married woman or other. 

“You’re both mental”, Robb told them.  “Well, I’m off to bed.  Night.”

“Night”, said Sansa.  Robb hugged them both tightly, always over-affectionate after a couple of drinks, and left the two of them.  Sansa made to leave herself, but Arya pulled her back down. 

Sansa didn’t want to go another round on this.  If nothing else, Arya was only encouraging her obsession with Jon – an obsession Sansa was trying to get away from.  Even if she didn’t want to.  Sort of. 

This was a mess.  And after tonight and this conversation combined with the champagne, Sansa was struggling to get a grip on what was going on. 

“Hypothetically, if Jon was talking about you, would you be interested?” Arya asked bluntly. 

Sansa finished the remaining half of her glass in one go, and refilled it. 

“Yes”, she whispered. 

“Okay.  Good.  I want you both to be happy, and the last time I remember the two of you being like that you were apparently together.  That says to me you should be together again.” 

Sansa smiled at the simplicity of her sister’s thinking.  And at the realization Arya had broken down the last of the walls she had around Jon.  She’d admitted everything. 

And Sansa felt so much better for it.

“I don’t know it was me he was talking about.”  Her mind flashed back, however, to the hope she’d felt when Jon spoke of holding onto something when you have it. 

Had he been talking about them after all?  She didn’t know.  Sansa had never been able to read Jon.  Not really. 

She thought back to what he’d said earlier that night about her moving home.  Where was his head at?  Was it as confused as hers?

“Besides”, Sansa said eventually.  “Robb – “

“Leave Robb out of this, as you should have done four years ago.  And there is potentially a way to find out what he thinks without asking him.” Sansa furrowed her brow at Arya’s words.  “Jeyne.”

“You want me to tell Jeyne about this?” Sansa was mortified.  It was hard enough for her to discuss it with Arya, never mind anyone else.

“No.  Jeyne was talking about setting Jon up with someone.  I could suggest to her that she and Robb set him up with you.  It makes sense, right?  Two single people they love, you’re moving home and will be looking for someone at some point.  If Robb is against setting you up then he’ll say why.  And it’ll stop you questioning every damn thing!”

Sansa laughed in spite of it all.  “I’m going to bed.  And I’m taking this glass of champagne with me.  Thank you.  Love you.”

Sansa very rarely told her sister that, but she needed to convey how grateful she was. 

Over the past two days, Arya had helped Sansa work through many of the insecurities she’d had about her family finding out what happened between her and Jon. 

She went up to her room and changed into a tank top and shorts, relieved to be sleeping on her own after those nights with Harry.  Sansa was nervous and excited all at the same time. 

She wanted to see Jon to try and work out the truth of Arya’s theorizing, but at the same time she was terrified her sister could be wrong. 

Would finding out Jon didn’t want her, that he hadn’t thought of her at all in any non-platonic way since their summer together, be worse than never knowing at all and simply wondering about it for potentially the rest of her life? 

Or would it help her move on as she clearly needed to do if Jon didn’t return the feelings she’d held onto and tried to repress and deny and discard for so long?

Sansa didn’t know.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, then!


	6. Day Six - Jon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Robb gets married, Arya is determined, and Jon is both exasperating and infuriating.

Jon slept fitfully the night before the wedding and woke earlier than usual.  His slumber was haunted by dreams of Sansa laying in his arms and then disappearing. 

A reminder that he’d let the best thing in his life slip away from him without a fight. 

In the end, Jon got up around six thirty and – for the first time in a long time – found himself up before Ghost.  He sipped a cup of coffee as he watched the Labrador sleep on and let his mind slip back to Sansa. 

He’d been surprised when Robb had told him about her separation from Harry.  Jon had presumed his presence in Wintertown, for all that Robb and Arya didn’t seem keen on him, meant that Harry and Sansa were serious.

Jon’s heart had almost leapt out of his chest when Robb told him the news.  He’d pushed it back in quick enough, though.  Sansa would still be in Gulltown and her ending things with Harry wouldn’t automatically mean she wanted them to try again. 

Besides, what could he offer her that Harry couldn’t?  Jon was little better than nothing.  He had nothing, really. 

Only a dog, a stressful job and responsibilities to his mother. 

But at the dinner, when she’d mentioned so casually that she was moving home, it had almost been too much for him.  Jon had wanted to scream that he was in love with her. 

But he hadn’t. 

Her moving home meant they would see more of each other and Jon didn’t want to make things between them even more awkward than they already were.

Sansa had looked so beautiful when Jon caught sight of her, it had taken his breath away.  Everything just brought out the blue of her eyes.  A blue that had always put Jon in mind of the ocean. 

He’d almost drowned in those eyes when he’d gone over to speak to Sansa, Arya and Gendry. 

Ghost woke and woofed at him.  His jaw opened widely as he yawned, and Jon went over to pat his side. 

“Finally.  You look like you had a much better sleep than I did, boy.  You up for a good walk?”

Ghost just looked up at him, and Jon took that as a non-refusal.  He was early enough that they could go for a good long one.  There wasn’t enough time to head to Stony Shore but they could stretch their legs at Wolfswood Country Park. 

As early as they had set out, Jon only had time for breakfast and a shower before he headed over to Robb’s.  He’d over-estimated the length of time they could spend on their walk by a reasonable amount and was relieved that he didn’t really need to do anything else before going to Winterfell. 

He got a text halfway through his bacon and eggs letting him know that Catelyn, Sansa and Arya had just left. 

Jon knew they were going to get ready over at Robb and Jeyne’s with the rest of the bridal section of the wedding party, and he’d asked Robb to tell him when Winterfell had quietened down. 

When Jon walked from the cab to the front door of Winterfell, he was relieved that he wasn’t going to see Sansa until the wedding.  He would likely have Robb to calm – and apparently sobriety enforcement thanks to Jeyne – and Jon knew it would help him focus on his best man duties if he wasn’t constantly thinking about Sansa being in the same house. 

He knocked on the door and opened it.  “Hello?”

“In here”, Robb called from the family room.  Jon went in to find him sitting on the sofa with his feet up, watching a news programme with Bran and still wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms and an old _Avengers_  t-shirt. 

He looked over when Jon walked in.  “Hey.  How are you?”

“Fine.  And you?  Don’t take this the wrong way, but I was kind of expecting to come in here and find you freaking out”, Jon admitted. 

Bran snorted before Robb could respond.  “He had his freak out earlier.  Then he and Arya shouted at each other non-stop for around five minutes; after that, he was fine.”

“Alright, alright”, Robb grumbled.  “You two have such faith in me.”

“We know you too well”, said Bran.  “Anyway, I’ll leave you both to it.  I need to start getting ready.”

“I don’t know why we have to be ready so early.  It isn’t like we have someone coming to spend ages doing our hair.  And we won’t be putting on seventeen different forms of make-up”, Robb pointed out. 

Jon wondered if he was really fine now.

“Seventeen is a very specific number”, said Jon.  “I take it Theon hasn’t turned up yet?”

“Nope.  I’m not sure when he will be here.  I got a text from Jeyne this morning telling me, among other things, that her sister wasn’t back from Theon’s apartment yet.  I’m not sure if she holds me responsible given Theon’s my mate, but Eleyna is  _her_  sister.  Right?”

Jon rolled his eyes.  Including Theon in the wedding party had always made this a probability more than a possibility. 

“Right.  Let’s be honest, did any of us think Theon was going home alone both last night and tonight?”

“Exactly my point!  See, this is why I picked you.”

“Because I agree with you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure what that says about my judgement”, said Jon.  He grinned. 

This was going to be a good day.  Though Jon was admittedly concerned about his best man speech.  He’d had it written for weeks, but when he went over it on his morning walk with Ghost some bits felt too rehearsed. 

Jon wondered if he wouldn’t be better just making it up as he went along. 

“I’ll go and make us some coffee”, Jon offered.  He went through to the kitchen and set the kettle on to boil.  Ned came in just as Jon was about to pour it out.  “Would you like some?”

“Please”, said Ned.  “It feels a bit strange, having you offer me coffee in my own house.”

Jon grinned.  “I think a lot of today is going to feel a bit strange.  Milk and two sugars, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but if Cat asks then please say I only took one.”

“I think that’s a secret I can keep”, Jon replied.  He poured the three cups out and handed Ned his.  The two of them went back through to the family room and Robb. 

“Thanks”, said Robb as he accepted his cup. 

“I called Theon.  He should be here in around half an hour.  His guest was just about to get in a cab.  I’m sure Jeyne will be in a stew.  Her mother is easier to deal with when Eleyna is around.  The two of them just feed off each other.  I should text Jeyne.”

Robb fiddled around with his phone while Jon and Ned started in on their coffee. 

Jon mentally went through a list of everything that would need done – get ready, get to the sept, get Robb married, photographs and reception.  Jeyne had told him in no uncertain terms that the best man/maid of honour dance was non-negotiable.  It was the only part of the day he was actively dreading.

“Did you remember the rings?” Ned asked Jon. 

“Didn’t need to; we left them upstairs with the suits on Tuesday in case I forgot them.”  Jon hadn’t wanted to be responsible for making the obvious best man blunder. 

Robb asking him had really touched Jon and he didn’t want to let his best friend down.  With two younger brothers, he hadn’t anticipated Robb would ask.  Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to choose between Bran and Rickon, Jon mused. 

Robb’s phone buzzed.  He laughed, and held it out to show Jon and Ned – it was a text message from Arya. 

**_I’m being tortured.  Please send help soon.  Scratch that.  Please send help now!  Arya_ **

“That sounds like Arya”, Ned chuckled. 

The remainder of the morning proceeded with little to worry Jon.  Theon, in a post-Eleyna haze, appeared to lack the alcohol Jeyne was worried he’d be constantly plying Robb with, nothing was missing and everyone’s suit fitted. 

Jon thought that in retrospect it would’ve been an idea to check them on Tuesday when they were picked up, but nothing bad seemed to have come of that lapse in judgement. 

There were two cars to take them to the sept.  Bran, Rickon and Theon got in one and, after a moment’s thought, Jon followed. 

He’d never known his father, and likely never would, but he considered that Robb and Ned should have this time alone together.  Jon supposed that in the increasingly unlikely event he ever got married, he’d hopefully have his mother to stand up with him as Robb did Ned. 

“I don’t know why we’re here so bloody early”, Rickon huffed when they reached the sept.  “The bride is always late.  It’s tradition.”

Jon found himself seeing the truth in Rickon’s words in the hour before the ceremony began. 

While Ned had taken charge of Robb and Jeyne’s brothers (Ray and Rollam having arrived not long after they did) and Theon, Jon was left in a small room with Robb, watching his best friend pace up and down it over and over again – and occasionally asking Jon to check, yet again, that the rings were in his suit pocket and hadn’t mysteriously vanished in the previous five minutes. 

“It’s the waiting that’s driving me bloody demented”, said Robb finally.  “We should have had an early morning wedding.  Just get up, get dressed and get it done.”

“I think Arya would’ve preferred that.  Have you had any more texts from her pleading for help?”

Robb laughed.  “Not since that last one an hour ago.”

“In any case, it won’t be that much longer now.  Have you sorted out your speech yet?”  Jon had yet to decide what to do about his own.  The inside pocket in his suit jacket held a copy of the one he’d written, but more and more he was having second thoughts on it.

“There isn’t much to my speech”, Robb told him dismissively. 

“All I’m really expected to do is thank the bridesmaids, our parents and everyone who came to the wedding.  And to say nice stuff about Jeyne, obviously.”

“Obviously”, chuckled Jon.  He didn’t think Robb would find that part too difficult.  Robb and Jeyne had been together since they were eighteen. 

“It won’t be long now”, Jon assured him.  And it wasn’t.  Only ten minutes later, the septon came to collect them.  It was time. 

All of Robb’s nerves seemed to disappear when the music started and the two of them turned to watch Jeyne walk down the aisle on her father’s arm.  Jon glanced at Robb and saw the pure love in his gaze as he looked at his bride. 

“She looks beautiful, doesn’t she?” Robb breathed. 

As he replied, Jon’s eye caught Sansa.  “Yes, she does.”

While everyone else looked at Jeyne, Jon gazed unabashedly at Sansa. 

She was wearing a strapless gown in some shade of gold Jon didn’t know the name of, and had her hair tied up in one of those old-fashioned Northern braids his mother had tried to emulate a time or two when her hair was longer. 

Jon had always known Sansa was beautiful, and told her so constantly when they were together, but either he had forgotten how striking she could be or the bridesmaid’s dress she wore suited her that much because Jon couldn’t remember her looking so perfect. 

He took a breath in and moved his eyes.  Jon looked at Arya, and saw her return his gaze pointedly.  Her eyebrow was raised and Jon had a feeling she realized he’d been staring at her sister for longer than he should have. 

He refocused his attention on the septon.

The service passed quickly, far more so than Jon recalled the rehearsal doing, and before he knew it Robb and Jeyne were saying their vows.

“Father, Smith, Warrior.  Mother, Maiden, Crone.  Stranger”, they uttered in unison. 

“I am his and he is mine”, said Jeyne.

“I am hers and she is mine”, replied Robb.

“From this day, until the end of my days.”

With that, the septon declared them to be man and wife, and Jon smiled widely as Robb kissed Jeyne.  They’d been best friends almost their entire lives, and Jon was happy to see Robb so.  He applauded along with everyone else as Robb and Jeyne turned to look at the rest of their guests. 

Jon could see the relief in Robb’s eyes that the tense part of the day was over. 

The photographs aside, the remainder of the day would be a celebration. 

Once they had signed the wedding register in the septon’s office, Jon took Eleyna’s arm and led Robb and Jeyne down the aisle to the heavy front door of the sept.  He ignored her simpering and allowed his mind to drift to the happiness he had seen on Sansa’s face when she looked at her brother and sister-in-law. 

Jon wished that he could have made Sansa that happy. 

They were greeted outside by the guests throwing confetti at Robb and Jeyne – of whom Arya appeared to be the chief instigator.  Jon wasn’t sure precisely where she’d hidden that much of it, but she seemed to cover the newlyweds in a shower of the stuff. 

He let go of Eleyna’s arm as soon as he could and went over to speak to his mother and Alys. 

“You both look lovely”, he told them.  He smiled at Alys and gave his mother a quick hug.  “You both okay to get to the reception?”

“I booked us a cab”, Alys replied. 

“Good.  I have to go for the photographs – “

“Remember to smile”, his mother told him.  Jon rolled his eyes.  He expected such jests from Theon, not his own mother.

“I will.”  He heard Arya calling his name.  “I better go.  I’ll see you both later.”

Jon ran over to where Arya stood with Sansa.  “Mum wants us to start moving over to get the pictures done.  I think she wants to get it over and done with so she can have a break from Mrs. W.”

“She that bad when you were getting ready?” Jon asked.

“Until Eleyna came back and they could set up their own mini-coven at the kitchen table.”

“Arya!” Sansa admonished her sister, before lowering her voice.  “You shouldn’t say things like that in public.  Someone could hear you!  Besides, whatever we think of them, they’re Robb’s kin now and we shouldn’t cause trouble for him.”

This was the Sansa and Arya Jon recalled well from their childhood.  Sansa had always been the big sister setting Arya straight.  On this occasion, Jon was in agreement with both of them. 

He’d never felt any sort of connection to Jeyne’s family for all he liked Jeyne herself.  But Sansa was right, there was both a time and a place and this wasn’t it.

“Your friend seems pretty cool”, Arya commented as they headed over to the grassy area beside the sept where the pictures would be taken.  “Gendry said they had a good laugh at the rehearsal dinner last night.”

“Alys?  Yeah.  She’s a good friend.”

“You’ve known her a while?”  Jon nodded. 

“Since the summer after – “ Arya had almost caught him out there.  She raised an eyebrow at him, and Jon recovered his composure. 

“After Robb went to Lannisport.  She started as a student nurse when I was working daytime security at the hospital.  I’m pretty sure her wedding will be the next one I go to.”

“Really?”  Arya seemed very interested, and Jon wasn’t sure it boded well.

“Yeah.”  Sigorn hadn’t said anything specific but reading between the lines, Jon figured he was waiting for the right time to propose. 

He also figured that Alys would accept.  The two of them had always complimented each other well.  Sort of like him and – no.  Nope.  Jon tried to move his mind away from Sansa. 

“I’m sure she’ll be happy with - ?” Arya looked at him questioningly. 

“Sigorn.”

Arya laughed.  “Stupid name.”

“Unusual more than stu – “ Sansa was cut off and squealed as she seemed to trip on something.  Jon leaned out instinctively and grabbed her around the waist.  He recalled how right it used to feel when she was in his arms. 

Jon inhaled her scent and had to stop himself from pulling her close. 

Jon brought himself to his senses and steadied Sansa.  “Are you alright?”

“Yeah.  Thanks.  I.  Uhm.  Yeah, I think my heel caught the ground weird.  Or something.”  Jon pretended not to notice the look Sansa shot in Arya’s direction.  He had no doubts that Arya had deliberately tried to make her sister fall. 

Thinking back to the look she’d given him in the sept, Jon knew Arya was in the process of rumbling his feelings for her sister. 

If she hadn’t done so already.

And that was not a good thing.  Arya had always been far too perceptive for her own good. 

Jon tried to act nonchalant and simply took a couple of extra strides to walk away from the Stark sisters.  He ignored the hissing of Sansa’s voice as she said something to Arya, and thought it for the best that he couldn’t actually make out what was being said. 

If, as he suspected, Arya had deduced he looked upon her sister as more than a friend, then Jon knew he would hear about it from her soon enough.  He moved on further and tried to concentrate on the photographer, who seemed to be arranging the newlyweds and their parents for the first picture. 

The photographs didn’t take long.  They also weren’t as bad as Jon had anticipated.  He was stood next to Sansa for most of them and smiled at her each time she turned round to fidget with her braided hair or right the way her dress sat. 

Weddings were supposed to be about the bride and groom, but Jon only had eyes for one of the bridesmaids. 

“Final picture”, the photographer said eventually.  “Let’s have the bride and groom along with the bridal party.  Okay, so I want our newlyweds in the centre, with the best man and maid of honour on either side as before?”

Jon found himself jostled into place, with Robb on one side and Sansa on the other. 

“And if we could all move in closer?”  Jon felt Sansa move nearer to him and had to resist the temptation to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her in as he would have done four years ago. 

When she moved back to Wintertown, Jon was really going to need to get hold of himself and move past her.  Before his feelings became obvious to everyone.  He didn’t want to make Sansa uncomfortable. 

Not to mention, she had only just separated from Harry.

As best man, Jon ended up in a car with Eleyna, Sansa and Arya going to the hotel for the reception.  He offered the front seat to the girls, in case their dresses were crushed.  Eleyna was the only one who seemed interested in taking up his offer and spent the journey on her phone. 

Jon wouldn’t be surprised to find her texting Theon. 

Jon, on the other hand, stared out of the window and thought about Sansa as Arya sat between them.  He wished it was their day, rather than Robb and Jeyne’s. 

More than once during that summer he had contemplated what it would be like to marry Sansa Stark.  To leave work every day and come home to her smile. 

Jon had known it was a pipe dream; he would never be good enough for Sansa.

But that hadn’t stopped him from wanting it.  It hadn’t stopped him from wanting  _her_.

When they reached the hotel, Jon was quick to jump out of the car and help Rickon and Theon with Bran’s wheelchair.  He went inside with the three of them and grabbed himself a glass of champagne, before seeking out his mother and Alys. 

While Robb had got the nervy stuff over and done with, Jon still had his to come. 

Although he intended to return to the legal studies he’d been forced to delay when his mother felt ill, Jon despised public speaking – which would be more than a small inconvenience for a lawyer – and was starting to feel more and more insecure about the best man speech he had written. 

Perhaps it would be for the best to simply speak from the heart as he had the night before rather than reading some pre-prepared remarks. 

Jon found his seat at the top table easily enough.  He’d been placed – to his relief – between Rickon and Theon.  The two of them simply spoke over him when he didn’t feel like talking, but were equally amenable to him joining in when he wanted to. 

With the nerves building up in his stomach, Jon had a fleeting thought that it would be easier if he could give his speech and have the obligatory dance with Eleyna before they ate.  It would stop his dinner from doing summersaults in his belly. 

After Mr. Westerling and Robb had spoken, it was Jon’s turn. 

“I won’t try to be funny.  If Robb wanted funny – or wildly inappropriate, actually – he would have asked Theon to do this”, Jon began. 

He could hear murmurs of protest from Theon in the seat next to him, but Jon knew they were half-hearted at best. 

“In fact, Robb himself said this morning that he asked me to do this because I agreed with him.  I told him that had me questioning my judgement, and maybe that’s a little bit true.  But what is also true is that I’ve known Robb since we were five years old.  I know every embarrassing story he’s silently praying I’m not about to spill, and he knows far too many about me that could be thrown back in my face.”

Jon looked past Robb, to Sansa.  She was looking back at him, listening to his speech.  There was a curiosity in her eyes Jon wondered at the cause of.  He kept looking at her. 

“I’m not going to tell any of those stories.  To the relief of more than Robb, to be honest.  I’ll just take this opportunity to say that I’ve seen Robb at his best and at his worst.  And since Jeyne has been in his life, I’ve seen more of the former than the latter.  It is a precious thing to love someone with everything you have.  It is a precious thing to hold someone and just listen to them talk about their dreams and make sleeping noises only you could find adorable.”

Jon got a laugh at that.  He thought back to the sleep noises Sansa used to make and how much he had loved them. 

He thought back to the dreams past and present she’d told him about; how her four-year-old self had hoped to train unicorns for the circus when she grew up. 

“What Robb and Jeyne have is precious and can’t be bought.  They are very lucky and we should all aspire to be as happy as they are.  And when we find that happiness, we should grab onto it and never, ever let it go.  A toast – to Robb and Jeyne!”

“To Robb and Jeyne!” Jon’s words echoed throughout the room, but his eyes were fixed on Sansa and the smile forming on her face as she looked to her brother and sister-in-law. 

“Mine would have been funnier”, Theon informed him smugly as Jon sat down.  “And I would’ve told the stories you wouldn’t dare.”

“I think that’s probably why Robb didn’t pick you”, Rickon piped up from the other side of Jon. 

“He didn’t pick you either, squirt.”

“Don’t call me that!  If you weren’t my drinks source, I’d have more to say to you”, Rickon retorted.

Jon decided that, if asked, he would pretend he hadn’t heard that last bit. 

After they’d all digested their food, and the band had set up, Jon watched as Robb and Jeyne took to the centre of the floor for their first dance.  He remembered Robb telling him that Jeyne had insisted upon this particular song.

_I want to spend the rest of my life_

_With you by my side_

_Forever and ever_

_Every little thing that you do_

_Baby I’m amazed by you_

“That’s time for us.  Are you going to dance or not?” Eleyna huffed.  Jon took her hand and apologized.  He’d gotten so caught up in watching Robb and Jeyne that he’d forgotten the cue for him and Eleyna to join in. 

Never mind rehearsing the wedding ceremony.  As his foot caught hers for the first time, Jon started to think that perhaps he and Eleyna should have rehearsed this dance. 

“Sorry”, he muttered.  Eleyna simply huffed again, before muttering something about preferring to dance with Theon. 

“I’m sure you’ll be able to dance with him as much as you like later.  You only need to put up with me for around three minutes.”

“How can a person not know how to dance?”

“I do know.  Sort of.  I mean, I understand the concept – just not how to apply it.”  

Jon felt like a fifteen year old at his first school dance.  He stepped on her foot again, and Eleyna winced audibly.  They were passing Robb and Jeyne at this point, and Jon shot an apologetic glance at the bride. 

He had never been more relieved to return to his seat.  It was a true testament to the length of time he’d known the Starks that Rickon didn’t laugh in his face.  In return, Jon remained silent when Rickon returned after dancing with Sansa. 

He’d watched her glide across the room, her face lit up as she said something to her youngest brother. 

Jon managed to evade most other dances.  Thankfully it transpired Alys had seen him attempt to dance before and had no wish to join him.  Arya had bluntly told him not to bother asking her, after she’d had her enforced turns around the dancefloor with Theon and Rollam.

“Maybe you should ask Sansa instead”, Arya had added sweetly. 

The lightness of her tone had Jon worried after what had happened just before the wedding photographs were taken. 

Arya was fishing, and Jon wasn’t entirely sure if he was the bait, the hook or the fish.

His mother, on the other hand, refused to take no for an answer and insisted on dragging him up for a dance when the Rolling Stones came on. 

“You know how bad I am at this”, Jon groaned.  He tried to move in time with the music, but failed miserably.  “Is that – is she recording this?!”

Sure enough, Alys was giving him a thumbs up while she followed them around with her phone.  It was a move worthy of Arya Stark. 

“I’m not sure if that’s for blackmail material on you or me”, his mother laughed.

“That would be me”, Jon replied instantly.  “For all I apparently inherited your co-ordination, you can actually dance.”

When the dance was over with, Jon found himself relaxing and having a couple of drinks.  Robb and Jeyne – the former in particular – also seemed more relaxed than they had been of late.  Jon was quite sure that they would be even more so the following day, when Jeyne’s family returned home to the Westerlands. 

Alys made her excuses around halfway through the evening, hoping to surprise Sigorn by meeting him from work, and his mother insisted upon leaving half an hour later.

Jon walked his mother outside, despite her protests.  Worrying about her had become second nature to him over the last couple of years.  And he reasoned that the fresh air would be welcome. 

Jon hailed a passing cab, which stopped in front of them. 

“How long?” his mother asked.  She leaned against the cab and looked him in the eye. 

“Around two?  I know the bar is open until one, but then there might be a few things to sort out – “

“I didn’t mean how long until you get home”, his mother chuckled.  She fidgeted with her clutch bag.

“You’re a grown man, Jon.  You can stay out as late as you like whenever you like.  And I don’t ever want you to think otherwise.  No.  I meant, how long have you been in love with her?”

“With whom?” Jon asked suspiciously. 

Either he’d been staring at Sansa long enough that more people than Arya had been able to pick up on it, or Robb had staged an intervention over the misunderstanding regarding Alys.  He didn’t know which scenario was worse.

She sighed and looked at him pointedly.  “Sansa Stark.”

“Four years”, Jon admitted.  He didn’t see any point in lying to her.

“So she was the one, then.”

“The one?”  Jon was puzzled. 

“I knew there was a girl you were bringing round.  You must’ve forgotten to open your window one day.  I went into your room with ironing or whatever, and it reeked of sex.  Like, seriously reeked of it.  I figured there was a good reason you hadn’t introduced us and left it at that.  You were happy that summer.  I don’t remember you ever being that happy.  I knew it was down to this girl I never met.  And I knew it was over the night Robb brought you home drunker than I’d ever seen you.”

Jon chuckled.  His mother was more perceptive than he was comfortable with.  He remembered the morning after that night out.  She hadn’t reproached him for drinking too much or reminded him of the cases she dealt with regularly at work. 

No, his mother had simply given him painkillers and a hug.  Then she’d cooked him an enormous fry-up that had somehow settled his stomach. 

“Jon?  As I’ve been reminded over the last couple of years, life is short.  We need to grab happiness when it comes along, like you said in that speech of yours.  Tell her how you feel.  If she doesn’t feel the same then at least you’ll know.  Not knowing is worse.”

“Thank you.”  He hugged his mother tightly and saw her into the car. 

“I’ll – I know it’s a mess.  It’s always been a mess.  But I also know I need to do something about it.”

Jon waved her off and went back inside, where he found himself almost instantly accosted by a smiling Jeyne. 

“How are you, Mrs. Stark?” Jon asked her with a grin.  Jeyne made a face. 

“Please don’t call me that!  I’ll think you’re looking for Catelyn.  Besides, it makes me feel old.”  Jon laughed as Jeyne slipped her arm into his.  He could see the band were close to starting up again after their break. 

“We can’t have you feeling old on your wedding day”, Jon told her. 

The band started up again a moment later, and Jon glanced over to see the couples taking to the floor.  It was a slow song, and Jon could see that Ned had taken the opportunity to corner Sansa for a dance. 

Sansa had always been a good dancer, Jon remembered.  She’d dragged him along once to an afternoon dance where the band had played music from the ‘50s.  They’d been the youngest people there by a good number of years and Jon hadn’t known any of the steps. 

Sansa had, though, and she’d led him through them amidst their giggles. 

That had been a happy day.  Looking back, Jon thought it may even have been the day he realised he was in love with her. 

_“It’ll be fun”, Sansa assured him._

_Jon looked at the sign with a healthy dose of scepticism.  It advertised a ‘50s dance and added that all levels of ability were welcome._

_“Please?”_

_Jon looked over and saw Sansa pouting at him.  He leaned over and captured her lips in his._

_It had been four weeks since the day he’d kissed her at Stony Shore, but Jon was already coming to find it difficult to deny Sansa Stark’s wishes._

_He was already falling hard for the young woman he’d always seemed to overlook in the past, instead playing sports or video games, or having movie marathons, with Robb and the rest of her siblings._

_Jon couldn’t understand why he hadn’t stopped to pay more attention to the quiet girl reading in the corner or heading off to a yoga or pilates class._

_He couldn’t understand why he had never suggested asking Sansa to join them and pick out a movie._

_It had taken this summer to find their tastes were not that dissimilar – the action and superhero movies he favoured and the romances Sansa enjoyed aside.  They both had time for old classics._

_“I suppose it might be fun”, he conceded, turning his attention to the hall in front of him.  If nothing else, she should get a laugh out of his pitiful attempts at dancing._

_They went inside and found themselves surrounded almost exclusively by older couples.  There were a few who seemed to be in their thirties and were wearing ‘50s-style outfits, but Jon could tell he and Sansa were the youngest there by a good few years._

_Sansa bagged them a couple of chairs and took off her light, denim jacket._

_She wore a lemon sundress underneath, one Jon had already decided was his favourite.  It looked a lot smarter than his skinny jeans and black White Harbour University t-shirt._

_There was a band set-up at one end of the community hall, playing music Jon vaguely recognised from the radio._

_“Well?” he turned to Sansa nervously.  “Incidentally, I apologise in advance for embarrassing you.  And most likely for standing on your feet.”_

_“You’re not going to embarrass me.”  She rolled her eyes and took his hand.  “Do you trust me?”_

_“Yes”, he breathed._

_“Come on, then.”_

_Jon allowed Sansa to lead him to a free space, and then to lead him in the dance.  He’d never quite been comfortable dancing, and had usually spent school dances standing on the fringes or sitting at a table in the hope that nobody would expect him to do anything that required rhythm._

_When he went to nightclubs in White Harbour with Robb and their other friends, Jon was always the person who stayed with the drinks while everyone else danced._

_“Here!”  Sansa grinned at him and twirled herself under his arm._

_She grabbed his hands and moved their arms backwards and forwards and twisted her hips.  Jon watched her sway, and although he felt pretty stupid standing as still as he was, he couldn’t deny that Sansa looked lovely when she moved._

_“Let’s try some jive moves.”_

_“Jive moves?” Jon was a little concerned._

_He glanced round at the other couples.  There were men three times his age who could move better than he did.  Jon bit his lip, and nodded._

_Sansa showed him how to kick and flick his legs.  Jon thought he looked a little like the cartoon kraken on that ridiculous t-shirt Theon had and loved, but Sansa seemed happy enough for the two of them and he loved her smile._

_“I have no idea what I’m doing!” Jon exclaimed with a laugh, hoping he could be heard over the music._

_He tried to twist his hips a little and prayed to whatever deity was listening that it didn’t look like he was having some sort of aneurism._

_“It is fun, though, isn’t it?” Sansa replied.  She pulled herself closer to him and Jon decided this part of the dance was best.  He held Sansa tightly and kissed the top of her head.  His hatred for dancing aside, he didn’t want this moment to end._

_Sansa laughed and pulled away to kick and flick some more.  Jon tried to imitate what she was doing but resigned himself to looking like Theon’s cartoon kraken._

_“Come back here.”  Jon pulled Sansa in again and kissed her soundly.  “I like this part.”_

_“Me too”, she breathed._

_When they left the hall, Jon told Sansa he’d enjoyed himself._

_He also made her promise never to force him to dance like that again.  Jon could deal with simple slow-dancing in which he wasn’t required to move very much._

_He could not deal with anything fast or graceful as beautifully as Sansa, and he told her that._

_“I am not beautiful when I’m dancing”, she snorted.  “I get all sweaty and icky.”_

_“You get glowy.  And you are beautiful.  I’ve never seen you be anything but beautiful.  And graceful.”  Jon swung Sansa round beside his parked car and twirled her into his side._

_“You have the cutest laugh I’ve ever heard, and the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen.”_

_“Are you sure there wasn’t vodka in the orange juice that old woman gave you?  I saw her checking you out, you know”, Sansa chuckled._

_She tapped her fingers on his chest in a way that made Jon regret that they were in public._

_“Yeah, I’m sure.”  He kissed Sansa again, wishing he didn’t have to drive her back to Winterfell._

_He wanted to take her on to dinner somewhere and then spend the rest of the night listening to her talk about something.  Anything._

_Sansa could speak nonsense for hours on end and Jon would still find it mesmerising._

_He felt a pull towards her that he had never understood before; he wanted to hold Sansa tight and never let her go._

“Jon?  Jon?  Earth to Jon?”  Jon pulled himself out of the memory of that afternoon and turned to see Jeyne staring at him with a concerned look on her face.  “Are you alright?”

“Fine”, he replied, his mouth was dry and his eyes left Jeyne and returned to Sansa, smiling as she danced with her father. 

“Sorry.  I was just thinking about…….something.”

Some _one_ , more like. 

“Oh.  Oh.  Oh.  Wow.  I never – “

Jon closed his eyes.  He realized Jeyne had followed his line of sight and seen him staring at her sister-in-law.  In reality, she’d probably seen him staring at Sansa the first time round.  “Jeyne, please.  I – “

“I did not see that coming.”  Jeyne chuckled.  “Robb has no idea, does he?”

“Not so much, no.  I’d maybe like to keep it that way.  Self-preservation sort of thing.  You know what he’s like with Sansa.  Nobody has ever been, or will ever be, good enough for her as far as Robb is concerned”, Jon sighed. 

Arya, his mother and now Jeyne.  He’d have to rein in his feelings for Sansa before she moved home, otherwise it would be obvious to all of Wintertown how he felt about her. 

Jon watched as the song ended, and Robb took his father’s place with Sansa. 

“Come on, let’s dance.”  Jeyne seemed pretty determined but Jon was sceptical and in need of a drink. 

“You do understand you’re taking your life in your hands dancing with me?  I don’t think Robb wants to spend his honeymoon running around after you because I’ve broken your foot.” 

Jeyne laughed at him and took his hand, leaving Jon resigned to a dance. 

It took a moment or two before Jon realised they were moving over to beside where Robb and Sansa were dancing.  Or rather, Jeyne was deliberately guiding him in that direction.  Jon had never really been able to lead in a dance. 

He cursed Jeyne’s determination, which could be as bad as Arya’s at times. 

“Partner switch?” Jeyne asked Robb sweetly.  As Jeyne had no doubt anticipated, Robb immediately agreed with his new wife and dropped his sister’s hand. 

“You don’t mind dancing with Jon do you, Sansa?”  Jon looked at her nervously, unsure if he wanted her to say  _yes_  or  _no_.  He needed to steady himself, but a whiskey and coke could do that more than a dance with Sansa. 

“Of course not.”  Her smile was soft and seemed uncertain.  Jon knew it was always difficult for her to deny her family anything – and this was Robb’s wedding day.  Jeyne dropped his hand and took Robb’s, leaving the two of them standing opposite each other. 

He took Sansa’s hand in his, unsure what to do next.  His heart was pounding and he was sure the rest of the room could hear it – never mind Sansa. 

In the end, Jon just pulled Sansa into his arms, held her and listened to the music.  They swayed in unison and it was as if the last four years had never happened, they moulded their bodies to one another so naturally. 

Jon felt his breath hitch and catch in his throat as he caught a noseful of her scent.

_Never mind, I’ll find_

_Someone like you_

_I wish nothing but the best for you too_

_Don’t forget me, I beg_

_I remember you said_

_Sometimes it lasts in love_

_But sometimes it hurts instead_

Jon felt Sansa pull away from him, and quickly saw the anguish in her eyes. 

“I, uhm, I need some fresh air.  Sorry, Jon.  I’m sorry.”

Jon watched as Sansa swiftly made her way out of the ballroom, and felt like his light and happiness had wandered out of the building. 

He hadn’t done anything.  Nothing but hold her in his attempt to dance.  His mother was right.  Life was short. 

And maybe, just maybe, that anguish in her eyes spoke of feelings that hadn’t quite gone away. 

A man could dream, in any case.

Jon caught Jeyne and Robb in his line of sight and went after Sansa.  He could hear them follow, but didn’t care. 

All Jon cared about in this moment was Sansa.  The woman he loved. 

She was standing outside, gazing at the horizon.  Despite the hour, it was still light.  The North had always been like that, with too much sunlight in summer and too little in winter.  Jon looked at Sansa’s back and wanted nothing more than to hold her. 

He stepped forward, moving towards Sansa, and said her name.   “ _Sansa_.”

Hearing him, she turned round and Jon looked again into those beautiful blue eyes.

He took a deep breath in.  It was now or never.  And his mother was right.  Life was short.

“Sansa, I love you.  I’ve been in love with you for four years.  I should’ve told you then, and I should’ve told you every day since.  I should’ve told you that every moment we were together made me happier than I could ever remember being; it made me happier than I have been since.”

Jon took a tentative step towards Sansa, wanting to be closer, but not to crowd her. 

“I don’t want us to be like that song.  I don’t want someone  _like_  you.  I want  _you_.  Only you.  I’ve tried to – I broke up with Ygritte because she wasn’t  _you_.  I broke up with Val because she wasn’t  _you_.” 

Sansa’s face was blank and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, if his hope had been misplaced.  He silently prayed it was just shock and ploughed on.  Now he’d started, he had to finish. 

“I know that I’m not good enough for you and probably never will be.  Not by a long-shot.  I know you deserve the moon and the stars and the sun and then some.  You deserve so much more than me and the little I have to give.  But I love you and I want to at least try to deserve you, because I never, ever should’ve let you walk out of my life like that.”

“You’re an idiot, Jon Snow.  An exasperating, infuriating idiot”, she told him. 

Jon closed his eyes.  He had been wrong. 

He didn’t want to see her walk away from him.  He wasn’t sure he’d be able to watch it.  But then he felt a gentle hand cup his cheek.  Jon opened his eyes and saw Sansa smiling softly at him. 

“But…..I love you too.  I’ve tried not to, but I haven’t been very good at that.  And, to be honest, I’d very much like for you to be  _my_  exasperating, infuriating idiot.”

Jon chuckled.  He brushed away the beginnings of tears that had started to form on Sansa’s cheeks and kissed her. 

Her lips were as soft as he remembered, though Jon thought she tasted even better.  As their tongues danced, he let out a moan at the warmth of Sansa’s body pressed against his. 

“Whatever made you think you weren’t good enough for me?” Sansa asked.  She tucked a loose curl behind his ear tenderly, and Jon leaned into her touch.

“I don’t have much to offer you, Sansa.  I never did, really.  You deserved to see the world and live your dreams.  I would only ever have held you back from that.  I knew you loved the south.  I thought – I thought you wanted more than me.  You certainly deserved more.  And we’ve known each other forever.  I didn’t want to disappoint you and then make it awkward for anyone.”

“But you’re you”, she said as if that explained everything. 

“You made me feel as if I was worth everything in the world.  You made me feel special and beautiful and  _wanted_.  You made me feel like I was everything to you.  Nobody else has ever made me feel like that – you did.  And that’s all I’ve ever needed, really.  Whatever mistakes and misunderstandings there were before don’t matter.  What matters is the future, and I want you in mine.  I want you to  _be_  mine.”

“Me too.  Gods, you don’t know how much I want you.  How much you’re everything to me.” 

He kissed Sansa’s forehead and pulled her into a tight hug.  He would’ve kissed her again and again and again, but a cough from behind him reminded Jon that he hadn’t come out here alone. 

“Hi, how are you?” Robb asked when they both turned round to face him. 

Jon took Sansa’s hand in his. 

“Robb”, said Sansa.  Jon could hear the tension in her voice and threaded his fingers through hers. 

“Clearly you’ve both been keeping stuff from me, and we’ll discuss that – though please, gods, not in graphic detail – when Jeyne and I get back from Sunspear and you both come over for dinner.”  Jon relaxed a little.  At least Robb wasn’t about to murder him.

“In the meantime, Sansa – I actually approve of this one.”

Sansa broke away from him and hugged Robb tightly. 

“Thank you”, said Jon, trying to control the emotion in his voice.  

It meant a lot to Jon to hear Robb say that.  He knew how high his standards were for Sansa.  Robb had never liked any of Sansa’s ex-boyfriends.  And had made that very clear to anyone who asked. 

Jon had lost count how of many times Robb had complained about Harry over the last week or so – even before he and Sansa had arrived.

“We’re going back inside”, said Jeyne playfully.  “We’ll see the two of you later.”

“Don’t say it like that”, Robb groaned.  But Jon saw him take Jeyne’s hand and return to their guests, without looking round to glare at them. 

“So”, Jon smiled. 

“So”, Sansa echoed.  She laughed, a loud echoing laugh that Jon couldn’t remember hearing for four years.  Clearly he hadn’t been the only one living a half-life since then. 

Jon wrapped his arms around Sansa, enveloping her.  He never wanted to let go.  “I guess we better go back inside.”

“We could dance”, said Sansa hopefully.  Jon pulled back and gave her a look. 

“I’ve forgotten everything you taught me that afternoon.”  Clearly she hadn’t seen him standing all over Eleyna’s feet earlier on.  Or Alys refusing point blank to even consider dancing with him.

“Then you’ll need to re-learn it”, Sansa told him sternly.  “Or – just hold me?  That’ll do for both of us now, I think.”

“I think so too”, Jon murmured happily.  He threaded his fingers back through Sansa’s and led her inside again, back to the ballroom.   

When they walked back in, the band was playing a slow jazzy number that Jon didn’t recognize. 

“I apologize in advance for standing on your feet”, he whispered in Sansa’s ear. 

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find a way of making it up to me”, she grinned wickedly. 

Jon whined.  “You shouldn’t say that when we’re not in a place where I can make good on it.  However much I might want to.  Here…..”

Jon wrapped his arms around Sansa’s waist and pulled her in tightly, like he’d wanted to do earlier in the day.  She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly, sending a strange sensation through Jon. 

He felt as if he’d finally come home after a long journey away. 

Jon kissed the top of Sansa’s head lightly and allowed them to sway along. 

“Arya tripped you up deliberately earlier, didn’t she?” he murmured.  Sansa snorted. 

“Arya is smart and perceptive.  One thing she is not, however, is subtle.”  Jon nodded. 

“I figured that.”

“When we went to Hobb’s the other day, Arya put two and two together and got four.  She’s the only one who ever has.  I’ve been trying to block her questions for three days and I haven’t always been successful at it.  Tripping me up was part of her plan to figure out how you felt about me.”

“She didn’t think to ask?”  The Arya he knew could be blunt as hell.

“She didn’t think you’d tell her the truth.” 

Jon pulled Sansa in tighter, and considered his answer. 

“I probably wouldn’t have – well, I’d have tried to deny it.  But I haven’t been very good at trying not to be in love with you, either.  And I don’t think I’ll be trying it anymore.  I love you.  And I should have done more than just whisper it when you were asleep in my arms and couldn’t hear me.”

Sansa raised her head and looked him in the eye.  “You used to do that?” 

There was a catch in her voice and Jon instantly hated himself for ever making her doubt she was everything to him.

“I did.  I was stupid then.  I should have said it out loud.  I should have shouted it at anyone and everyone.”

“Let’s not make the same mistakes again”, Sansa told him.  “Just to be clear – I love you, Jon Snow.”  

Jon spent the next hour or so happily moving very little around the dancefloor with Sansa in his arms. 

He caught more than a few people staring at them, but ignored the looks – apart from the one of approval Arya gave him.  Jon smiled back at her, and knew that she was as accepting of it as Robb seemed to be. 

There was a voice in the back of his head telling Jon that they should have been this open four years ago, but he ignored it.

The past was the past and they couldn’t change it.  What was important now was the future, and Jon wanted Sansa to be his. 

“So, my sister?” said Robb.  Jon found himself a little apprehensive, but nodded.  They were standing at the bar, drinks in hand, waiting for Jeyne and Sansa to come back from the bathroom. 

“You were never in love with Alys, were you?”

“No”, Jon admitted.  “But it was easier to let you assume you were right than tell you how I felt about Sansa.  Alys was having a really bad day, that time you thought you’d figured it all out.  One of her patients had died, she’d had a blazing row with Sigorn over some nonsense or other…….I was just trying to cheer her up.  Alys has never been anything more than a friend to me.”

“Do I really come across as an over-bearing, over-protective big brother?” Jon fixed Robb with a look.  He didn’t seriously think he wasn’t? 

“Okay, okay.  I guess I probably do.  I’ve never said this to anyone before, but I trust you with Sansa.  I trust you to make her happy – not – I don’t mean – urgh, fyi you are never, ever telling me about that side of your relationship.”

“That is a deal.” Jon gave a sigh of relief.  He wasn’t any keener to tell Sansa’s brother about their sex life than Robb was to hear it. 

“As much as I trust you, if you hurt my sister then I will be forced to hurt you in ways you never imagined possible.”

“I would expect nothing less.  From you or Arya.”

Sansa walked over and joined them.  Jon reached out and took her hand in his.  “Jeyne’s ready.”

Robb looked over at the two of them, Sansa leaning into Jon, and gave a derisive snort. 

“Gods, but the two of you are going to be annoying together.  Have fun being like this in front of Arya.”

“I don’t mind being annoying to other people if it means you’re next to me all the time”, Jon told Sansa idly.  He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. 

“Just as long as I’m not annoying to you.”

“You’re annoying to me”, muttered Robb.  Jon laughed, and watched as Robb left them and went up to the stage. 

According to tradition, Jeyne would now throw out her bouquet and then the couple would leave the reception.  They had a suite upstairs that Jon had sent a bottle of champagne up to.

“Time for the bouquet!” Jeyne shouted.  She looked over in their direction and winked. 

Jon wasn’t sure why until Jeyne all but threw the bouquet at Sansa’s head.  She managed to catch it in time, and turned what Jon found to be a rather adorable shade of red. 

He chuckled and allowed her to hide her face in his shoulder while everyone else applauded.

“Have they stopped staring now?” Sansa’s muffled voice came from somewhere near his armpit. 

“Yeah.  Come on, we should really go and wave them off like everyone else.”  It felt a bit ridiculous waving off someone in the elevator, but Jon went along with it anyway. 

He threaded his fingers through Sansa’s free hand and followed the crowd. 

“Would you like a drink?” Jon asked when Robb and Jeyne had gone.  She nodded.  Jon led her over to the bar and ordered a glass of champagne each.  “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

Jon could see that many of the guests were taking the departure of the bride and groom as an opportunity to make their own exit.  He turned to Sansa. 

“Are you free tomorrow afternoon?”

Sansa chuckled. 

“I might be”, she replied coyly.  “What did you have in mind?”

“You.  Me.  Stony Shore.  A picnic?  I’m afraid we’d have to share the food with Ghost, but…….”

“I think I can manage it.”  He wished she wasn’t going back to Gulltown on Monday.  He’d have to return to work then, so they wouldn’t have been able to spend the day together in any case, but they could’ve met for lunch or dinner.

“I wish we had more time together.  But I’ll be moving back in a month.  It won’t be that long.”

Compared to four years, one month was nothing. 

“It won’t be”, Jon echoed.  He sipped on his glass of champagne and gazed at Sansa. 

“I love you.”  Four years ago, he couldn’t manage to say it.  Now, he couldn’t seem to manage to stop.

Jon spent the remainder of the evening with Sansa.  He was well aware of the looks they were getting from her family, but none of them came over to say anything. 

Jon wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not but Sansa insisted it was, and that they were merely being tactful – for once.  He hoped that meant that, like Robb and Arya, the other Starks didn’t disapprove of them being together.   

A little after one AM, Jon saw Sansa into a car with Arya and Gendry. 

“Goodnight”, he murmured against her lips.  She repeated it back to him before running her fingers through his hair and kissing him softly. 

“Could we please move this along?  Some of us want to go home.” Jon groaned at Arya’s words.  He pulled his lips away from Sansa’s and rested his forehead on hers. 

“I think your sister wants to leave.”  He didn’t want Sansa to go.  He wanted to take her to an all-night diner and spend hours talking with her about everything that had happened in the years they’d missed. 

He had always been content to lie with Sansa in his arms, listening to her talk about her dreams. 

“I think so too”, Sansa replied.  She stepped back.  “I’ll see you tomorrow?  Not too early, though.  I need my beauty sleep.”

Jon snorted.  “You always look beautiful to me.”

“I may vomit.  You two are worse than Robb and Jeyne.”

“Don’t listen to her”, Gendry interrupted fondly. 

“You better go.  I need to get a cab and get some sleep myself.  I’ll text you in the morning.  Goodnight.  I love you.”

“Goodnight.  I love you too”, Sansa replied.  Jon reluctantly let go of her hand and let her get into the car.  He watched and waved as it drove away and rounded the corner. 

Cheeks hurting from the amount of smiling he’d been doing over the last couple of hours, Jon hailed a cab and went home. 

He went straight for the fridge and a bottle of water when he got back into the house.  Experience had taught him it would make the morning easier to bear. 

Not that he’d gone over the top with his drinking.  At the start of the evening that had been to avoid making an idiot of himself over Sansa; at the end of the evening it had been because he was too busy concentrating on Sansa. 

Ghost roused himself briefly when Jon went to leave the kitchen.  He patted the dog on his side, and allowed him to go back to sleep once satisfied it was only Jon that had disturbed him. 

Jon carried his bottle of water upstairs and took his phone out of his suit pocket, intending to text Sansa before he went to sleep. 

When he reached the top of the stairs, his mother poked her head out onto the landing, looking a little bedraggled. 

“Did I wake you?  Sorry?” Jon felt a little guilty. 

“Nah, not really.  I fell asleep watching a DVD – I think the end credits woke me up more than anything.  So, you told her, then?  When are you seeing her next?”

“How did you – “

“You look happy.  Happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.  Come here, sweetheart.  I know the last couple of years have been as rough on you as they have been on me.  I would never have got through them without you.  I should say that more often.”  She pulled him into a tight hug. 

“I want you to be happy.  You deserve to be happy.  And I know you love that girl.”

“Thanks.  And, tomorrow.  I’m seeing her tomorrow.”

“Just don’t screw it up this time.”  Jon laughed. 

“I won’t.  Night.”

“Night, sweetheart.”

Jon went into his bedroom and hung the hired suit over the back of his desk chair as neatly as he could.  The garment bag was still over at Winterfell, along with the clothes he’d worn over, and Jon knew he’d need to take the suit back at some point over the next couple of days.  It was due back at the hire place by Tuesday. 

He changed into a pair of clean boxers and an old t-shirt and settled into bed. 

Jon picked up his phone and began typing out a message to her.  Gods, but Sansa had turned him into a walking pile of mush.

**_I miss you already.  Hope you have sweet dreams.  I love you.  Jon. x_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from Lonestar's 'Amazed' and Adele's 'Someone Like You'.


	7. Day Seven - Sansa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to everyone who has commented, left kudos and read. This is the first multi-chapter fic I've posted on this site, and I've been bowled over by the lovely response. 
> 
> And now for the seventh and final day.......

Sansa woke up on Sunday morning feeling as if she were floating in the air. 

On any other day, she would assume it was the after-effects of the champagne she’d drunk the previous evening, but Sansa couldn’t identify any cause other than Jon Snow. 

Arya had dragged her aside at the reception and refused to apologize for tripping Sansa up just before the photographs were taken.  Although she’d pointed out that the dress and therefore the pictures could have been ruined, Arya had been her usual stubborn self and adamantly asserted she’d done the right thing. 

Sansa had wanted to believe what Arya said.  That Jon had only had eyes for her when they followed Jeyne up the aisle.  That Jon caught her when she tripped with a look of longing on his face.  That Jon had looked at her when he spoke of holding onto love in his best man speech. 

She hadn’t let herself believe it, though.  She hadn’t wanted to get her heart broken by Jon again. 

And then Jeyne had left the two of them to dance. 

Just being in his arms had been too much for her.  After everything Arya had said and done, she’d gone into overload and virtually ran away from Jon.  Outside, amid thoughts of getting her head together, she found he’d followed her. 

She was mad as hell when he said he loved her and told her why he hadn’t said anything before.  But it was the kind of mad as hell that had her in tears and wondering if she was hearing him right. 

She’d swallowed the thousands of emotions rising up in her throat and simply told the truth.  They had forever to work through their insecurities. 

Sansa picked up her phone to check the time and saw it was a little after eleven.  There was a message notification flashing.  Sansa clicked into it to see that she had a text from Jon. 

**_Up and having my first coffee of the day before I jump in the shower.  Let me know when you want to head out to Stony Shore.  Hope your dreams were as happy as mine.  I can’t wait to see you again today.  Love you x_ **

A wide grin grew across her face and she wanted to throw off the bedcovers and get ready to leave the house immediately.  Instead, she clicked on reply and sent Jon a message. 

**_Morning.  Just woken up – need a shower and some coffee myself before I go anywhere!  I can be ready in around forty-five minutes?  Love you, too x_ **

She didn’t throw off the bedcovers.  Rather, she removed them as she normally did and began to contemplate what she should wear.  Sandshoes, because they were going to the beach.  She’d luckily got a pair of white ones in her suitcase. 

It wasn’t until she was in the shower, removing the curls from the braid she’d worn to the wedding, that Sansa recalled how much Jon had always loved her lemon sundress. 

She’d bought it that summer on an afternoon in which he’d willingly followed her around several shops until she found something suitable. 

Sansa bounced down the stairs around half an hour after she’d texted Jon.  Luckily, Arya was still in bed and therefore not in a position to grill her.  She’d gone straight to bed when they got back from the reception, in the hope of avoiding it. 

Sansa knew she couldn’t avoid it forever.  But putting it off as long as possible seemed to be a good plan.

Only her mother was up.

“You’re chirpy this morning, sweetheart.”  Sansa smiled and poured herself a cup of coffee.  She sat down at the table opposite her mother.  

“I didn’t expect any of you to be up for another couple of hours.”

“I was awake and thought I’d get a start on the day.  Besides, I’m going out in a bit.”  Sansa sipped her coffee and noted the grin on her mother’s face.

“With Jon?  You spent a good part of the night dancing with him.”

“Yes.  With Jon.”

“Sansa – “ Her mother hesitated, and doubt flashed across her face. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I like Jon.  He is a good, kind young man and I am so, so pleased to see you smiling like this.  But you and Harry only split up on Friday.  Isn’t it a bit soon to get involved with someone else?  And just when you’re moving home.  You’ve never really spent much time with Jon either.  It feels a bit sudden.”

Sansa bit her lip.  She could see that some measure of honesty was required here. 

“Mum, I’ve been in love with Jon for four years.  It isn’t sudden.”

“Oh.”  She seemed shocked.  Sansa hoped she was also relieved. 

“Please – please just give Jon a chance.” 

Sansa remembered how uncertain Jon had seemed about being good enough for her.  She didn’t want her mother to give his insecurities room to return.  They’d have to be careful this time to ensure that they communicated better than before. 

Sansa didn’t want a repeat of their past mistakes. 

It would be tough, but she wanted them to be truly honest.  Even when it hurt. 

“It isn’t a matter of giving Jon a chance or not.”  Her mother reached across the table and took Sansa’s hand.  “I want you to be happy.  Four years?”

Sansa nodded.  “And he’s picking me up in around fifteen minutes.  I’m happy when I’m with him.  It’s complicated, obviously, but even Robb could find nothing to say against it.”

“If this is what you want.”

“It is.”  Sansa hadn’t been as sure of anything in her life as she was of her love for Jon Snow.

“Make sure you’re back for six.  Robb and Jeyne are coming over for dinner before they fly off to Sunspear tomorrow.  Why don’t you invite Jon?  Gendry will be here, so it might feel a little less of an interrogation.”  Sansa took that as a mark of acceptance.

“I will do.  Thanks, mum.”  She went round to the other side of the table and hugged her mother tightly.  “I really love him.”

“I better take a coffee up to your father.  Are you going anywhere nice?”

“Stony Shore.  Jon needs to take Ghost for a good run out after the poor thing spent most of yesterday cooped up.  I think he said something about bringing a picnic.” 

Sansa was looking forward to it.  As much as she hated to compare Jon to Joffrey and Harry, Sansa was happier with a simple, quiet date rather than the ostentatious restaurants Joffrey had favoured or Harry’s trendy wine bars.

Jon had always been down to earth.  And Sansa had never had to be anything but herself for him. 

“A quiet day by the sea.  That’s something your father and I should do more often.  And with that, I should take him his coffee.  Poor man isn’t used to parties.  Remember to be back for six."

Sansa finished her coffee and went upstairs to grab a cardigan and her bag.  She decided to go wait for Jon outside in the hope of avoiding any awkward encounters with her possibly hungover family members. 

It was a bright and sunny day and Sansa thought that boded well. 

When he turned his car into the Winterfell driveway, Sansa caught Jon’s eye and saw him smile at her. 

She then noted an excitable Ghost in the back seat.  It had been a beautiful reunion on Thursday when Jon had brought him over to the house.  Sansa had missed Ghost.  Not as much as she had missed Jon, no.  But she had missed his dog nonetheless. 

The car came to a standstill next to Sansa, and Jon jumped out.  Sansa felt like a fourteen year old with a crush and couldn’t stop the stupid beaming smile she knew was growing across her face. 

“Morning.”

“Morning”, she replied.  Jon took her hand and pulled her into a kiss.  Sansa hoped her family weren’t standing watch at the window.

“You’re keen.” 

Sansa snorted.  “I wanted to spare you a pre-date interrogation from my family.  I’ve only seen mum this morning, but knowing the rest of them they’d appear the moment you arrived.  Arya was……inquisitive, shall we say, on the way home last night.”

“You mean she was her normal self?” Jon laughed. 

“Something like that.  If you do feel up to an interrogation, however, mum’s invited you over for dinner tonight.  Gendry will be there too.  You won’t be surrounded by extra-protective Starks.”

“Gendry does what Arya tells him to do.  He won’t side with anyone but her, you do realize that?  But, I think I can manage it.  We might as well get the first dinner with them over and done with.  Tear off the band aid, hmm?  Besides, you’re flying back to Gulltown tomorrow.  Any interrogation will be worth it to spend another couple of hours with you.”

“Don’t remind me”, Sansa groaned. 

“I’ve still to pack, though I think I might as well leave a few things here.  It’ll save me from bringing them back again in four weeks.  We can talk in the car; best get a move on if we need to be back here for dinner at six.”

Sansa opened the back door and gave Ghost a quick hug before settling herself in the passenger seat next to Jon. 

She rolled down the window and sighed happily.  Never mind fancy, expensive coffee shops in the south.  This was how Sansa wanted to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

Jon gave her another quick kiss and started the car.  “I love you.  I missed you last night.  Is it too soon for me to say things like that?”

“It better not be.  I missed you too.  Jon, I – if things are going to work out between us this time then we need to be more honest about our feelings.  No hiding anything, even if it hurts.”  She bit her lip nervously. 

“I don’t want to make the same mistakes again”, he agreed. 

“And no more of this thinking you’re not good enough for me.  You make me happy and that’s the most important thing.”

“I’ll work on it”, Jon promised.  They were stopped at a traffic light, and he grabbed her hand over the console between them. 

“You mean the world to me, Sansa.  I’ll do anything you want me to.”

“Anything?” Sansa quirked an eyebrow.  She recalled the dream that had woken her on Wednesday and the sensation of Jon’s mouth on her. 

After years of putting up with sexual inadequacy and telling herself that Jon had been an anomaly, Sansa was looking forward to resuming that side of their relationship. 

“Anything.”  Jon chuckled, before turning serious again as the lights changed again. 

“That said, one thing I don’t want to do is wait another four weeks before I see you in person.  I checked out the flight schedules when I was having my coffee this morning, and there’s a Friday evening one which would get me into Gulltown around ten thirty.  Would you object to me coming to visit you next weekend?”

“You’d do that?”  Jon nodded.  “I have zero objections.”

Sansa smiled to herself and turned to look out of the window.  She was a little stunned by Jon’s gesture but appreciated it nonetheless. 

As much as she’d been pro-active in trying to ensure Jon worked through his insecurities, she had her own.  And they involved having low expectations of the man in her life.  Sansa would have to work on reminding herself that Jon wasn’t Joff or Harry. 

It didn’t take them long to reach Stony Shore.  They’d fallen easily into conversation on the drive down, trying to catch up on things they’d missed over the four years since their split.  Given Jon’s close connection to her family, they knew the rough outlines but not the details. 

Even with what Robb had told her, Sansa’s massive respect for how Jon had dealt with his mother’s illness had increased further. 

Jon had been through a lot, and it hurt Sansa that she hadn’t been there for him.

Ghost barked happily when Jon parked up.  “Okay, settle boy.  I think he missed you almost as much as I did.  He liked seeing you on Thursday and he perked up when I told him we were going to pick you up today.”

“I’ve missed him.  When I decided to move home, I started thinking about getting a dog of my own.  Someone cuddly to come home to.”

“I like to think I’m cuddly”, Jon joked.  “But I could take you to the shelter if you want.  I took Robb when he got Grey Wind.”

“That would be great.  Come on, we didn’t come all the way here to sit in the car.” Sansa got out and let Ghost free.  The Labrador immediately jumped up at her and woofed. 

She leaned back on her heels and gave him a warm embrace.  Ghost licked the side of her face, leaving Sansa in giggles. 

“Hey, stop slobbering all over my girlfriend.” Jon patted Ghost on the side.  Sansa felt herself grow a little red hearing Jon refer to her as his girlfriend.  He’d never done that before.  For all that he’d asked her on dates and kissed her and invited her into his house and his bed, Jon had never called her his girlfriend. 

They hadn’t ever qualified what they were to each other.

Sansa found she quite liked hearing Jon call her his girlfriend. 

“I’ll get our picnic.  Knowing mum, she’ll have a huge feast prepared for tonight.  We should eat early so we aren’t too full for it.  Besides, all I’ve had so far today is a cup of coffee.”  Jon nodded, and quickly located a stick to throw for Ghost while Sansa grabbed the deli bag Jon had mentioned on the way down. 

Jon pulled an old throw out of the back of the car and set it down on a stretch of firm sand.  Sansa sat down next to him and rested her head on Jon’s shoulder. 

“I could stay like this all day.”

“I wish we could”, Jon replied.  Ghost had returned with his stick and Jon threw it off again.  Sansa closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead and sighed in contentment. 

“So, in the interest of full disclosure……..you might not be the only one changing job.”

“Oh?”  Sansa was surprised. 

For all her father and Robb had constantly spoken of how over-worked Jon was, she hadn’t seen him be anything short of passionate about his job.  She moved her head and turned to face him.

“Now that mum’s better – in remission and back at work, I mean – I wanted to go back and pick up my studies.  I don’t know if Robb ever told you that I got accepted at White Harbour for Law?”  Sansa took a deep breath in.  Jon wasn’t about to move away the moment she returned home, was he?

“Wintertown does a similar course of study and I’m going to apply there.  I’ll ask Mormont about a reference and see if we can make it work with me being part-time.”

“Jon, that’s fantastic!  I’m sure Mormont will be able to fix things for you.  I sort of got the impression that he relied on you a lot.”  Jon blushed a little at that.  He never had been forward about taking compliments the way others did. 

“What’s your very unnecessary back-up plan?”

“Go back to working security part-time.  They’re always looking for people, and if I worked nights then I could probably get a bit of work done on shift.  I haven’t – Sansa, I haven’t mentioned this to anyone yet.  I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up until I get accepted.”

“I understand.”  It had been less than eighteen hours and he was already confiding in her.  Sansa thought that a good sign. 

She shifted again, leaning back into Jon’s chest.  His arms wrapped around her and it felt like they’d gone back in time to the way things should always have been. 

Ghost’s barks pulled Sansa out of the moment and she started doing what she had said she would – setting up their lunch.  Jon had picked them up a salad and some filled crusty baguettes each. 

She chuckled softly when it became clear that he’d got one plain ham and one ham and cheese.  The same as the sandwiches he’d brought on their first trip down here.

“You remembered.”  Sansa was surprised he did.

“Yeah.” Jon scratched his beard.  “Yeah, I did.”

She began to fidget with the sleeve of her cardigan, but turned to look Jon in the eye. 

“Robb said the other day that you don’t ever bring anyone else down here.  Apart from Ghost.  He said he offered to come once and you told him not to.”

“I don’t.  I – at the risk of sounding creepy, it felt a little bit like _our_ place.  I remember coming back here later that summer and when I was home on break after.  Every time I brought Ghost down here, I thought of you.  Of us, really.  I thought about how much I’d screwed things up and how much I wanted what we’d had to be real.  I love you.  And even if nothing ever happened between us again, it would feel like cheating if I brought another woman to our place.”

Sansa felt a little overwhelmed.  She wished they could have been this honest sooner. 

“And Robb?” 

“I was freaking out because I thought my mother – the only blood family I knew – was going to die.  I was a mess, and I knew that if I let Robb come down here then I’d end up blurting out everything that ever happened between us.  And when I did come down, I felt peace.  Almost as if you were here beside me.  It felt like I would lose that it there was someone else with me.  Is that weird?”

“No.”  Sansa shook her head. 

“I couldn’t ever have gone to Hobb’s without you.  I think that’s why part of me wanted to go back there last Wednesday – because I wanted us to go back to our place.  My head’s been a little muddled since I came home and I couldn’t stop thinking about us.”

Sansa moved closer to Jon and kissed him softly. 

“I’ll need to take you back when you move home.  Just the two of us.  We can have cheeseburgers and fries.”  Sansa nodded.  She could feel tears prick at the corner of her eye and pushed them away. 

“I couldn’t order that on Wednesday.  I couldn’t be at _our_ place and order _our_ food when I was there with someone who wasn’t you.  How’s that for weird?”

Jon stroked her hair and then tucked it behind her ear.  “It doesn’t matter if you’re weird.  I love you.  We can be weird together.”

Sansa chuckled.  This was turning out to be a pretty great date. 

Once they had finished eating, Jon called the airline and booked himself on the Gulltown flight. 

Sansa, disposing of their rubbish, bit her lip as she reflected on the trouble she’d had getting Harry to come to Wintertown with her for Robb’s wedding.  And here Jon was, willing to fly down for a short weekend just to see her. 

The only downside Sansa could see was the limited packing she’d get done with Jon around.  She’d received a text from Mya on their way down to Stony Shore, letting her know that Harry had dropped off her things and picked up the box she’d put together.  Sansa had thanked her profusely but didn’t mention anything about Jon. 

Sansa thought her friend needed to hear about Jon in person.  She would need to make Mya see that Jon wasn’t a rebound.  Jon was  _it_. 

“Ghost!  You want to go for a swim in the ocean, boy?” The way he bounded over to Jon told Sansa that yes, he very much did want to go for a swim. 

Jon reached his hand out for Sansa’s.  “Come on, let’s take a walk.”

“We need to do this a lot when I move home.”  Sansa felt the tide lapping her ankles and envisaged many more lazy Sundays walking Ghost on the beach.  Ghost and the dog she hoped to adopt once she’d found a new, pet-friendly apartment. 

“Oh, I have lots of plans for us”, Jon grinned.  “We can go back to the old duplex and watch old movies.  We can come here.  I can take you out for dinner.  And, if you get me drunk enough, I might just take you dancing at a club.”

Sansa laughed, and stopped in front of Jon.  “All of that sounds pretty amazing, Jon Snow.” 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, gently at first.  He began to moan when their tongues joined.  Sansa had always loved the sound and feel of Jon moaning into her mouth. 

Jon pulled away.  He looked a little abashed.  “Sorry.  I kind of started to get into that a bit too much.  Not very family friendly.  Maybe if there hadn’t been anyone else on the beach…..”

“Understood.”  She could wait.  They had as long as they needed.    

“Mum?” Sansa followed Jon into the house a few hours later, and Ghost ran in behind them.  There was no reply, and Jon picked up a piece of paper next to the phone. 

“ _Had some paperwork to do and this afternoon seemed like a good time for it.  I’ll order us a pizza when I get back.  Love, mum_.”

Sansa seemed surprised when Jon simply snorted after reading the message aloud.  “What?”

“This is my mother’s slightly unsubtle way of getting out of the house for a few hours in case we came back here.”

“Ah.”  Comprehension dawned and left Sansa a little surprised.  But then, she reasoned that Lyanna must have been alright with Jon bringing Ygritte and Val over to spend the night. 

“We don’t – Sansa, we don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.  What happened between us in the past doesn’t mean I automatically think – “

“I want to.”  Sansa raised a hand to stop Jon from speaking further. 

“I mean it.  I remember what it felt like and I want that feeling back.  I want you.  All of you.”

She stepped forward and raised her hand to his cheek.  Jon closed his eyes at the contact and nodded.  He touched her hand and moved it towards his lips, before softly kissing her palm. 

Jon’s eyes opened and Sansa saw instantly the desire they held.  If she were to hold up a mirror, Sansa knew the same would be reflected in her own. 

Sansa placed her free hand in Jon’s.  “I take it your bedroom is still where it was before?”

Jon nodded and led Sansa up the stairs. 

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she was filled with the good sort of nerves.  It hadn’t been until she and Jon had separated and she’d been with Joffrey and Harry that Sansa had come to appreciate the connection she felt with Jon when they were together like this. 

He was the only man she’d ever been with who held any real interest in her pleasure. 

When Jon opened the door, Sansa saw that very little had changed in the last four years.  There were books and records that hadn’t been there before, fresh cream paint on the walls and a bedspread she didn’t recognize. 

But in so many ways it was the same as it had been before.  Sort of like Jon himself, Sansa decided. 

She turned and looked at him.  Sansa smiled.  As much as Jon had always made her feel loved and cared for – even if he’d never said the words at the time – she was far surer now than she had been before. 

Surer of her own feelings as well as his. 

Jon took both her hands in his and went to sit on his bed.  “I love you, Sansa Stark.” 

He pulled her in close and onto his lap, leaving Sansa giggling like she was five years younger.

“I love you too, Jon Snow.”  Sansa grinned as she moved her hands round to play with the loose curls at the back of Jon’s neck. 

He kissed her, softly at first and then with greater purpose.  She could taste the mint chocolate chip ice cream they’d stopped for on the way back from Stony Shore on his tongue and massaged it, chasing the sweet tang she wanted more of. 

Jon moaned, and Sansa found herself wrapping her legs around his waist.  She’d missed this, missed him physically, far more than she’d thought. 

“Sansa”, Jon murmured, moving his lips down her neck and sucking at her pulse point.  “So…so…sweet….perfect.”

“Gods, Jon”, Sansa moaned.  She canted her hips upwards towards him and decided they were both wearing far too many clothes. 

Sansa raised Jon’s face to hers and looked him right in the eye.  It was intense, and with anyone else Sansa knew it would have made her feel vulnerable.  With Jon, she felt safe. 

She felt as if she had come home. 

Not breaking eye contact, Sansa tugged on Jon’s t-shirt.  He took the hint and removed it while Sansa worked on his belt buckle.  She’d always liked removing this herself though she’d never been able to figure out why. 

Sansa flung the belt on the floor behind her and ran her fingers up and down Jon’s bare sides.   He closed his eyes and shivered at her touch.

When he opened his eyes again, Sansa could see they were almost black.

She threw her cardigan off quickly, and followed it instantly with her dress.  Jon imitated her and ran his own fingers up and down her sides.  Sansa felt it between her legs and started grinding her hips into Jon’s, seeking friction. 

She loved it when they went slow like this.  Jon could draw sex out and make her feel like she was flying. 

Sansa moaned his name and Jon bent his head down, pressing soft kisses to the tops of her breasts before gently swiping his thumbs over her bra.  She unclasped it at the back, and as soon as it loosened Jon cupped her breasts and lifted the bra to allow himself better access. 

He sucked and tongued at her nipples for what felt like forever, leaving Sansa in a quivering mess and grinding her hips more and more into his. 

She could feel Jon grow harder and as she moaned his name, Sansa’s desperation to have him inside her grew.  She wanted to feel him fill her up and make her whole. 

“Jon…..inside me……”

“Soon, sweet girl”, Jon murmured as he moved his lips down the valley between her breasts.  “Soon.”

Jon spun them around so Sansa was lying down on the bed with Jon hovering on top of her.  She couldn’t help but admire his strength as he balanced his body a few inches above hers. 

Her bra was finally thrown to the floor, and Jon pulled away a moment to remove his jeans.  Sansa grinned at the hiss he made when pulling them down.  She could see how hard Jon was and how uncomfortable it must be for him to move them over his pulsing cock. 

When he repositioned himself back on the bed, Jon grinned at Sansa slyly from just below her waist.  She felt herself grow a little shy. 

It had been four years since a man had done this for her and Sansa had to bite her lip and stop herself from saying he didn’t have to. 

This wasn’t just about her, though, and Sansa knew Jon enjoyed giving as much as she did receiving. 

He began slowly, pressing soft kisses to her belly and swirling his tongue around her belly button.  Sansa whined at that move, and rubbed her legs together. 

She wanted to touch herself, to give herself relief, but a voice at the back of her head reminded her that it would be so, so much better when Jon did it. 

After torturing her belly, and then her thighs, with his tongue, Jon finally made a move to take off her panties. 

He sniffed at them first, and told her how wet she was for him.  He raised his head as he spoke and Sansa saw how blown his pupils were. 

She wasn’t sure how Jon was holding himself together when she was barely hanging on herself. 

“Jon.  Please, for the love of all the gods……..”

Jon chuckled, and ran his tongue up her slit.  Sansa sighed happily at the contact and began muttering his name over and over again. 

As far as she was concerned, Jon could spend the rest of their lives doing this.  She hadn’t needed Jon to tell her how wet she was; she’d felt the slickness between her thighs when she rubbed them together.  Getting wet for Jon had never, ever been a problem for her and Sansa doubted it ever would be. 

They hummed in unison as Jon’s mouth did things Sansa had spent the last four years fantasizing about.  He brought her off twice and left Sansa feeling weightless. 

It was like she was floating above the clouds, drifting away, but with Jon tethering her to earth at the same time. 

As she came down from her second orgasm, she felt Jon shift a little.  He pressed soft kisses back up her belly through her breasts and up to her neck, murmuring to her with each caress. 

_“I…..love……you…..Sansa.”_

In spite of how happy she was at that moment, Sansa felt small tears begin to leak from her eyes. 

“I love you.” 

She’d never been this emotional during sex before.  And in a way, it scared her.  It scared her that Jon meant this much to her.  That Jon could affect her like this.

He brushed away her tears. 

“They’re happy ones, I promise”, she assured Jon, pulling him into a kiss.  She wrapped her legs around his waist again and felt him moan loudly into her mouth. 

“Sweetheart, I really don’t want to mess up these boxers.”

Sansa chuckled, and stretched herself to tug at the waistband of Jon’s boxers. 

“Again, not wanting to mess them up.” 

Jon grinned at her and moved onto his side to take them off.  Sansa was tempted to reach out and run her fingers up and down his length, but she considered how much Jon must be holding in and resisted the temptation. 

She wanted him inside her, and it was all for the best if she left well alone.  Jon reached over Sansa to open the top drawer next to his bed and took out a condom. 

He sheathed himself quickly and then, before Sansa knew what he was doing, Jon had switched them around so he was the one lying down. 

Jon looked her in the eye.  “I want you to ride me.”

Sansa gulped and nodded.  She was still so wet that it was easy to slip his cock inside her.  Sansa felt Jon fill her up and moaned softly. 

“Sansa”, Jon whined.  She could see he was trying to hold on as long as he could. 

They moved in unison, slowly at first, and then faster. 

“ _Jon_ ”, Sansa gasped.  She started chanting his name.  “Jon.  Jon!   _Jon!_ ”

“I know.  Gods, you’re bloody perfect Sansa”, he grunted in response.  He reached up and began palming her breasts. 

“Jon.  Fuck, Jon!” She cried.  Sansa could feel another orgasm building up inside her and began to move faster.  “ _Close_ …..”

Jon swiftly moved his left hand off her right breast.  Sansa whined at the loss of contact, but soon felt his fingers between her legs, rubbing at her clit.  She moved his other hand, bringing it up to her mouth, and sucking on the tips of his fingers. 

_“Sansa!  Sansa!  Sansa!”_   She felt Jon let go and spill his seed inside her, and it tipped Sansa over the edge.  She came with him and collapsed on top of his chest. 

“Seven hells, but that was good”, Sansa spluttered out with a sigh when she recovered her breath. 

“Just good?” Jon chuckled in response.  Sansa tapped her finger on his nose. 

“Someone’s cocky, aren’t they?” 

Jon just laughed.  “Cocky?  Hells, Sansa.”

Sansa joined in his laughter. 

“Okay, I admit.  It was better than good.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” 

Jon sounded smug, but the gentle touch of his fingers as they ran up and down her back told her otherwise.  They spoke of love, affection and a sense of togetherness.  Jon kissed the top of her head. 

“I love you, Sansa.  I love you so much that it scares the living daylights out of me, because I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

“Me either”, she whispered.  Sansa lay her head on Jon’s chest and let out a sigh of contentment.  She decided that she loved this new, vocal Jon Snow. 

If they could keep this dialogue open and be brave and honest about their feelings then they could stop themselves from repeating their past mistakes. 

Jon coughed a couple of minutes later.  “I should…..”

“Oh.  Sorry.”  Sansa moved off Jon and they cleaned themselves up, before lying back down on his bed.  Jon wrapped his arms around Sansa and rubbed soft circles onto her side. 

“Quarter past five”, said Sansa, looking up at the clock – one of the few new additions. 

“Don’t remind me”, Jon groaned.  “I want to lie here for the rest of the night.”

“I wish we could, but we have to be on time.  I don’t want to eat my dinner while listening to Arya make suggestive jokes and comments at our expense because we were late.”  Jon chuckled into her shoulder at that and kissed it softly. 

“I love you”, he murmured into her skin. 

“This is what I used to do, remember?  And then you’d fall asleep and I would be able to say how much I wanted you without scaring you off.”

Sansa turned around in his arms.  “You won’t be scaring me off this time, Jon Snow.  Not ever.”

Jon brushed his thumb across her cheek.  Sansa closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.  She wished they had more time. 

They lay in Jon’s bed for ten minutes before Sansa sighed and forced herself up.  “Call us a cab so you can have a glass of wine at dinner.  There’s a good chance you’re going to need it.  They know and love you, but this is different.  Not bad different, just different.”

She could feel him tense a little.  “Yeah.”

“Robb was alright with it, and Arya just told us we were annoying.”  Jon nodded.  “She was going to try and set us up when I moved back, if nothing happened at the wedding.”

“Oh?” Jon sounded surprised.  Sansa couldn’t blame him.  She doubted Arya had ever set anyone up in her life. 

Sansa recalled their conversation with a blush. 

“Yeah, she was going to suggest to Jeyne that they try and set us up.  Arya figured it was a good enough way to find out how Robb might hypothetically feel about us being together.”

“Smart girl, your sister.  I left my phone downstairs.  I’ll run down and book us a cab.”  He went to leave the room, and Sansa burst out laughing. 

“What?”

“You, uhm, you might want to put some clothes on first.”  Jon looked down and snorted.  “As much as I love seeing you like that, I don’t think your poor mother would feel the same if she walked in the front door.”

“Probably not”, Jon agreed.  He scratched his beard and chuckled before throwing on his t-shirt and a clean pair of boxers. 

Sansa dressed while he was out of the room, not quite trusting herself not to text her mother complaining about non-existent traffic so she could spend an extra half hour or so naked with Jon when he came back up.

The cab arrived quickly (Sansa supposed Sunday wasn’t a busy day for them), barely giving them time to make themselves look decent and ensure there was enough food and water for Ghost. 

Sansa was amused when Jon insisted on grabbing a bottle of red wine from the cupboard before locking up. 

“You don’t usually bring wine when you come over for dinner”, she teased.  She could feel him tense beside her. 

“Like you said, it’ll be different this time.”

Sansa sighed and squeezed his hand.  “Jon, they all love you.  You don’t need to prove anything to them.  And you certainly don’t need to prove anything to me.”

“Come on.  We don’t want to be late.”

Luckily, Sansa thought, they arrived a good quarter of an hour before her mother had asked them to be there. 

“Hello?” She walked into the house holding Jon’s hand tightly.  She knew how nervous he was and wanted to reassure him. 

Sansa did not mention the concerns her mother had voiced that morning about entering into a new relationship so soon after her split with Harry. 

“Sansa?” It was her mother who appeared first, smiling at the two of them.  She heard Jon gulp next to her before he handed over the bottle of wine. 

“Thank you, Jon.  This’ll go well with the lamb I’ve got on.  Why don’t the two of you go through to the family room?  Everyone else is in there.

“Here we go”, Sansa giggled.  “I won’t let them hurt you.”

“Like either of us would stand a chance against Arya”, Jon muttered.  But it didn’t stop him from following her in. 

Sansa saw instantly that her mother hadn’t been exaggerating when she said  _everyone_  was in the family room. 

Her father was sitting in his usual chair, Robb and Jeyne were huddled together on the sofa, Bran was in his chair, next to Rickon – who had settled himself at the opposite end of the sofa to the newlyweds – and Arya sat on the floor, leaning back into Gendry. 

“Hi.”  Sansa couldn’t help but feel a little shy.  Perhaps it would have been better to ease Jon into this.  Perhaps it would have been better to ease them  _both_  into this. 

Her family could be overwhelming when they wanted to be.

“Hah!” Robb exclaimed when they walked in.  Sansa looked at her grinning brother with a mixture of amusement and surprise. 

“Five dragons to me, thank you!”

“Fine”, Arya grumbled.  Sansa turned to Jon, and answered his frown with a shrug.  She was as clueless as he was.  Arya went over to Robb and handed him his winnings. 

“You bet on us?” Sansa realized. 

“Yep”, grinned Robb as he pocketed the gold.  “Arya said there was no way the two of you would make it here on time, because you’d be too caught up in each other.  I told her you were both too responsible for that.”

Sansa felt herself blush, and heard Jon cough slightly next to her.  Her father rescued them by offering drinks.

“Whiskey, Jon?”

“Please.”

“Arya, go and pour your sister a glass of wine.”

“White, please”, smiled Sansa.  When her father had poured Jon’s drink for him, she manoeuvred him into the remaining free chair and perched herself on the edge.  It felt a little like they’d slipped into an alternative universe. 

In the hope of injecting some normality into the proceedings, she turned to Jeyne.  “Did your family get away alright?”

“They did, thanks”, Jeyne replied.  “It was great to go back home after the airport and just walk through the silent house.”

“Very, very silent”, said Robb.  Her brother looked far more relaxed than he had been over the last week and Sansa wondered if he’d found the presence of Jeyne’s family to be the most stressful part of getting married.

Arya brought Sansa’s wine in.  “Thanks.”

“Listen, before I forget……” Jeyne fished a set of keys out of her pocket. 

“Arya, you should take these.  I’ll post the other pair through the letterbox after we lock up tomorrow.  I’ve re-made the spare bed so you should be all set.  Just don’t let Grey Wind sleep in the room with you.  His snoring is worse than Robb’s.”

“Hey!”  Robb protested.  “I’m not that bad.”

“You’re not as bad as you used to be”, Jeyne amended. 

Sansa shifted on the side of the chair, and leaned into Jon.  She rested her head on top of his and felt him pull her closer, rubbing soft circles on her side. 

He seemed a bit more relaxed and Sansa wondered who was responsible for the lack of comment on the two of them, Arya and Robb’s bet aside. 

“See?” Sansa murmured softly. 

“Yes, you were right”, he whispered.  “But then, you usually are.”

“I’ll remember that in the future.”  Sansa felt a large, stupid smile grow across her face.  She shifted again, moving slightly closer into Jon. 

The room was full, but to her it was almost as if she and Jon were the only ones there.

“Dinner!”

Her mother’s shout pulled Sansa out of the moment and she walked through to the kitchen, Jon’s fingers threaded through her own.  She immediately pulled him into a seat next to her, halfway along the table, deeming Bran the best person for him to have on the other side.

Conversations started up and down the table as everyone poured themselves wine and filled their plates with juicy meat, fluffy potatoes and steaming vegetables.  Sansa cut up her meat neatly. 

She could feel a soft hand lightly squeeze her thigh.  She turned to glance at Jon and saw him grinning back at her.  With a giggle, Sansa placed her hand on top of his and swiped her thumb over Jon’s knuckles. 

She felt younger than she was again.  Sitting at the dinner table and holding hands with her boyfriend underneath it was something a teenaged Sansa would have considered to be the height of romance. 

In the early part of her teens she would never have envisaged broody Jon Snow as that boyfriend, but the Sansa of today couldn’t picture anyone else in that role. 

The conversation felt like background noise.  Sansa put down her fork and took a sip of her wine.  “Enjoying your dinner?”

“Very much so.  You?”

“Best meal ever.”  True, this was one of her favourites.  But it was also his presence that added something special for her.  Sense left Sansa’s mind when it came to Jon Snow.    

“Sansa?  Sansa?  Sansa?” She jumped when she realized Jeyne had said her name several times and looked over at her new sister-in-law. 

“Sorry, what was it?”

“I asked if you could pass the carrots”, Jeyne grinned.  Sansa felt herself flush as she removed her hand from Jon’s and handed the dish over to Jeyne. 

“Thanks.”

Sansa caught Arya’s eye when she returned the dish to its place, and saw her sister imitate vomiting.  For someone who had been with Gendry for as long as she had, Arya appeared to be allergic to excessive displays of affection.  At least, public ones. 

Ignoring her sister, Sansa patted Jon’s knee.  He quickly moved their hands back to her thigh, and Sansa realized he was probably trying to avoid getting hard at the dinner table.  Another time, she’d have to play with him over that. 

In the future, once he’d got comfortable coming to visit again. 

Sansa looked forward to the following weekend when they wouldn’t have to worry about her very present, oft-interfering and nosy family.  They could spend Saturday morning in bed, wander around Gulltown, go out for dinner – perhaps to the Pentoshi restaurant she loved – and then spend Saturday evening in bed. 

It would be a quick visit and Sansa had given up any residual hopes of packing while Jon was there.  But she would rather use up packing time than not have him in Gulltown at all. 

She and Mya went back to their under-grad days in King’s Landing, and Sansa was grateful for that for several reasons. 

“What are you thinking about?” Jon whispered to her.

“Next weekend.  I want to show you a little of the Gulltown I liked.”  Jon nodded. 

“If you can’t show all of it to me in one go, I can always come down for another weekend before you move back.”

“Really?”  Sansa’s breath caught a little at that. 

“Three weeks is too long.”

“It is”, Sansa agreed with a smile.  She clasped his hand tighter and leaned into his shoulder. 

When the dishes were all moved over to the counter next to the sink, Sansa was delighted to find that her mother had procured lemon cakes from her favourite bakery to have alongside their ice cream.  Sansa left the ice cream and moaned as she bit into her lemon cake. 

Jon Snow and lemon cakes – a perfect end to the day. 

“That was amazing”, she sighed once finished.  Sansa fully intended to take advantage of that bakery when she returned to Wintertown. 

“Have mine”, Jon offered.  Sansa frowned.  “I do like them, but you like them more and the ones from that bakery are your favourite, so……..”

“Thank you.”  Sansa scrunched up her nose in happiness and devoured Jon’s, enjoying it all the more because he had unselfishly given it to her. 

Looking at Jon’s grinning face when she finished, Sansa overheard her sister speak to someone. 

“I told you they’d be annoying.”  She turned to see Arya glancing between her and Robb. 

“How much notice will you need to serve in Gulltown, Sansa?”  Jeyne rescued her again, and Sansa felt more and more that her sister-in-law could possibly end up being a good friend. 

“Meant to be four weeks, but I’ve got leave accumulated so it’ll probably be more like three.”  She’d miss the bustling office and some of the people, but she was ready to move on. 

Finding a job in Wintertown would be the next thing.  Worst case scenario, she knew her father could possibly conjure something up.  His firm was always looking for new blood.

“Let us know if you need any help moving”, Robb offered. 

“I don’t really have much to pack up.  The place came furnished, so it’ll mostly be clothes and small things.  I can hire a moving company to take most of it and fly up with a couple of suitcases”, Sansa shrugged. 

She figured someone at Royce’s would have a recommendation. 

“It’ll be a long four weeks for the two of you, especially so early on”, said Jeyne sympathetically.  “I remember how much I missed Robb when I went back home the first Christmas we were together.”

Sansa glanced at Jon, and he nodded.  “Five days.”

“What?” Robb asked.

“It’ll be five days.  Jon’s flying down to Gulltown for the weekend.”  She saw Robb glance at Jon, who shrugged.

“You were the one telling me that I needed to get away.  And four weeks is too long.  I called the airline at lunchtime and booked the flights.”  He put his arm around her, and Sansa cosied in. 

If any of the family had doubts – those her mother had expressed aside – then this spoke of how serious she and Jon were about each other. 

“Cool”, coughed Robb.  Sansa saw Arya smirk, and she thought back to their bet. 

Most likely Robb had presumed in spite of their past, she and Jon would take things slow.  Jon’s trip to Gulltown said to Robb that wasn’t the case. 

If Robb tried to tease her and Jon, Sansa had every intention of making her brother squirm.

“Why don’t we go outside and sit on the patio?” her father suggested.  “Everyone alright for wine?”

Once their drinks had been refilled, they went outside to bask in the early evening sunshine.  There was ample seating for everyone, but Sansa went over to the steps and pulled Jon down next to her. 

“Was it as bad as you thought?”

“No”, Jon admitted.  “Though Arya did make a lot of silly faces at me.  I keep waiting for Robb to challenge me to a duel.”

“A duel?  What century do you think we’re in?!”  Sansa scoffed. 

“It’ll take him a bit of time to get used to us being together, but I think when he does everything will be a lot easier.  They like you far more than anyone else I’ve ever brought home.  There was no interrogation, no pranks.  No stupid nicknames they think I don’t understand.”

Jon chuckled.  “They have been horrid in the past, haven’t they?  It is because they love you.”

“I know”, Sansa sighed. 

“And so do I.”  Jon kissed the top of Sansa’s head and shuffled so their bodies were closer together.

“As I love you”, Sansa told him.  “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

Sansa recalled the barbeque her mother had insisted on giving the night she had arrived.  It seemed so long ago now.  Almost as if it had happened in another lifetime.  Harry had wanted her to fool around in the garden with him.  Sansa had said no, but here she was now – intending to do just that with Jon. 

She took him round to the side of the summer house, hoping it obstructed the view everyone else had of them. 

Sansa wrapped her arms around Jon’s neck.  “I hope that it won’t take too long before we stop being annoying for them.”

“Oh, I plan on being very annoying for a very long time”, Jon told her, his voice husky.  He looked in her eyes. 

“Today has been amazing.  Every time I look at you, I can’t believe that I’m yours.  I’ll not be able to concentrate at work tomorrow, you know that.  Mormont will have hundreds of things for me to catch up on, and I won’t be able to think of anything but you.”

“You better get your work done.  I need you finished on time on Friday to make your flight.”

Jon sighed.  “A whole weekend alone.  No family butting in.  No comments or silly faces.  It’ll be bliss.”

“It will.”  Sansa grabbed at Jon’s t-shirt and pressed her mouth to his, giving him a taster of their weekend together. 

Jon stayed for another couple of hours, before conceding that he should probably go and allow Sansa some time alone with her family, and to pack.  She intended to leave behind as much as possible.  It would lighten her suitcase and save her from bringing it back when she moved home. 

“I think I’ll walk home”, Jon told her.  “Will you come see me out?”

They got up from the stairs, and Sansa took Jon’s wine glass from him.  He went over to thank her mother for dinner, and to wish Robb and Jeyne well on their honeymoon. 

“Don’t be a stranger”, her father smiled at him.  Sansa felt Jon’s hand tighten in hers.  She knew he took it for her father’s acceptance, as she did. 

“I won’t be”, Jon promised.  Sansa held his hand through the house and out the front. 

“I wish we didn’t have to say goodbye”, she pouted. 

She’d come to Wintertown intending to do everything that was in her power to avoid even thinking of Jon Snow and here she was, openly admitting to Jon that she would miss him. 

Things had changed so much so fast.  But Sansa couldn’t find it within herself to regret that. 

“Don’t get all pouty like that”, Jon told her.  He leaned in and nibbled on her bottom lip, running his hands down to the small of her back. 

Sansa whined when he broke contact.  “If that’s what you do when I’m pouty, you can bet your ass I’ll be doing it a lot more.”

Jon hugged her.  “I love you.  I’ll text you later on tonight.  Five days – we can manage it!”

Sansa had a feeling that would be Jon’s mantra until they saw each other again. 

“Five days”, she repeated. 

She watched as he walked down the Winterfell driveway and turned to head back home.  He waved just before going out of sight, and Sansa hugged herself once he’d gone. 

She wished it was his arms around her, but after she moved back to Wintertown they’d be able to spend as many Sunday afternoons and Sunday nights together as they wanted

They could be as annoying as they wanted. 

Sansa went back through the house and onto the patio, stopping only to refill her wine glass.  “I don’t know who it was, but thank you to whichever one of you insisted on going easy on Jon.”

“Dad”, said Arya. 

“Thanks, dad.” Sansa hugged her father, then took one of the free seats.   

“I didn’t need to be told”, Robb assured her pointedly.  “You’ve been with enough dead weight, Sans.  Jon’s the first guy you’ve been with who is actually worthy of you.”

“Please tell him that?”  Sansa bit her lip.  She knew Jon needed to hear that from Robb – and possibly more than once. 

Robb nodded.  “He knows I trust him.”

“Good.  I don’t want us to make the same mistakes again.”

“Again?”  Her mother perked up at that.  “You and Jon have been together before?”

“Yes.  It wasn’t for long, but neither of us were open enough about what we wanted.  It was complicated and things didn’t work out.  We know it needs to be different this time.”   _We want it to be different this time._  

“The summer Robb was in Lannisport.”  Sansa was surprised to hear her father speak. 

“You worked for us, answering phones.  You did that every summer you were home, but I remember that one.  I would be walking through the office and see you looking at the clock or on your way out.  You – Sansa, I don’t remember seeing you as happy as you were then.”

“Yes”, she whispered softly.  She saw her parents exchange looks. 

“All I ever wanted for you was someone who made you happy”, her father said eventually. 

“Jon makes me happy.”

“Good.”  With one word, Sansa knew she had her mother’s blessing. 

She went upstairs a little later and started to pack.  Anything she didn’t think she would wear in the next four weeks was simply placed in the wardrobe or desk drawer, and the rest replaced in the suitcase she’d brought with her from Gulltown. 

A knock on the door pulled her out of her task.  “Come in.”

Robb wandered into the room, grinning.  “Jeyne and I are leaving soon.”

“Mmmm.”  He hadn’t popped into her room by accident.  Sansa suspected it had something to do with Jon.  Robb wasn’t going to change his mind, was he?

“I wanted you to know I meant what I said last night.  When you move home, I’d like you and Jon to come over for dinner.  You guys are really serious, aren’t you?”  Sansa nodded. 

“I love Jon.”

“Good.  You both deserve someone great.  You both deserve to be happy.”

Sansa smiled.  “Thank you, Robb.  I know I should have said something before – I just – I was still in love with him and I didn’t think he felt the same.  I didn’t want things to be awkward between the two of you.”

“Don’t worry about it”, Robb shrugged.  “I’m pleased you’re moving home.  We’ve all missed you.  Even Arya.  She would never say it, but she wants you to be happy as much as I do.”

“We get on a lot better than we did once”, Sansa conceded.  She recalled the childhood arguments with her younger sister well, but they were a thing of the past. 

The two of them still clashed from time to time, but neither sought to hurt the other as they once had. 

“A good thing as well.  Do you want me to ask around, see if anyone knows of apartments to rent?”

“Please.  I’m not too fussed.  As long as it is clean and preferably animal-friendly, I’ll consider it.  I love our parents, but I don’t want to live here longer than I need to.  I’ve become too used to my independence, I’m afraid.  I’m alright for a week or two, but indefinitely sounds like a long time.” 

Besides, she wanted somewhere she and Jon could be alone together.  His resumption of his legal studies would possibly prevent him from moving out of the house he shared with Lyanna.

“I know a few people who might be able to give me a lead.  I’ll look into it when I get back from Sunspear.”

“Thank you.”  Sansa went over and hugged him tightly.  Robb had been her first friend and held her hand on her first day of school.  She would always feel close to him. 

“I’m looking forward to spending more time together when I move home.  I haven’t lived here properly since I left school.  It’ll take some getting used to.”

“I’m sure it will.”

Sansa sat down on her bed and patted the space next to her.  Robb sat down and looked at her curiously. 

“When I was in Gulltown, feeling homesick – more homesick than I would ever admit to anyone but myself – I used to wonder if I should have stayed in the North as you and Arya did.  If I should have gone to White Harbour or remained in Wintertown.  Would things have been different then?”

“And what did you decide?”

“That as hard as it was, maybe it was for the best.  The person I am now is as much as a result of what has happened to me as it is of my genetics.  With everything that’s happened over the last couple of days, I think that’s right.  Maybe I wouldn’t have come to see how much Jon means to me if we hadn’t had that time apart.”

Sansa fidgeted with the duvet cover.  She raised her eyes and looked at Robb. 

“Mum and dad don’t know – in fact nobody does, not even Jon – but Jeyne and I came close to separating once, in our final year at White Harbour.  We were arguing a lot and we sat down to talk about it.  We talked about splitting, but that moment…..knowing I could lose her…..it made me realize how much I loved Jeyne and wanted us to be together.”

“Really?”  Robb nodded. 

“Looking back, I think that was the night I decided I wanted to marry her.  Sometimes it takes thinking about what you might lose to see what you’ve got.”  Robb stood up.  “I should go back down.  Jeyne and I really need to make a move.”

“Okay.  Robb, I – I want to come to dinner.  With Jon.  I want to know Jeyne better.  She is part of our family now.  I want to make her my friend.”

“I want that as much as you do”, Robb smiled.  “Come downstairs.”

Later that night, Sansa lay in a deep, warm and soothing bath.  Her phone sat on the shelf next to her favourite Hightower soap, and she’d spent most of her soak texting Jon.  She’d even sent him a selfie in which the bubbles obscured everything. 

Sansa reflected that she would never have done this with anyone else.  She would never have trusted anyone else with such a picture.

It seemed like so long ago that she had boarded her flight in Gulltown and been both nervous and excited at the thought of being around Jon again. 

In the bigger picture of her life, seven days wasn’t a long time.  It was hardly anything.  But so much had happened in that time to improve her life for the better. 

She hadn’t realized what a millstone around her neck Harry had been until he’d packed up his own suitcase and flown away out of her life. 

It hadn’t become clear to her – or those around her – how unhappy she was without Jon until he was back in her life again. 

Seven days ago, Sansa had been drifting.  Now, she was happy and confident in her future. 

And her future had a name – Jon Snow.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this verse and may revisit in the future (though not immediately) with a non-serious one-shot detailing Jonsa going for dinner at Robb and Jeyne's. I have a few ideas to work out, but whether they amount to something is unclear at this point!


End file.
